About Eyes to the Skies

Red kites were reintroduced to the Black Isle in 1989 and bred in 1992, for the first time in over 100 years in the Highlands. Over the next few years, good numbers of chicks were reared and the population grew steadily. Sadly, since 1999, that recovery has stalled. Although research has shown that enough suitable habitat and food exists, birds here are not surviving to breeding age. Eyes to the skies is a project, aiming to raise awareness, knowledge and understanding about red kites. Running over two years, the project has three distinct strands.

Education

Ten local schools have adopted a red kite, following its movements on the web thanks to satellite technology and contributing to regular updates on this website. All local schools have also been offered a red kite assembly session, a story telling session describing how the red kite became with a moral message of how we all can make decisions about the sorts of people we want to be.

Viewing

A purpose built red kite viewing facility will hopefully open to the public in Winter 2009, offering unrivalled close-up views of red kites, which we hope will be of interest to visitors and locals alike.

Research

Following and analysing the movements and behaviour of our red kites during the period between them leaving the nest and reaching breeding age (normally at three years of age).