Rosie travels to the central belt
Friday, 08 July 2011
Last time we wrote about Rosie, she was around Stonehaven, but she didn’t stay there for long. She took a route south east, through Perthshire, into Stirlingshire, skirting the south east boundary of the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park. She then went on a loop starting just north of Alexandria, through Helensburgh, up to Craggan, then flew down the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond, to just north of Alexandria again. I hope she found whatever it was she was looking for! Interestingly, she followed pretty much the same course north to Cobleland as she’d flown south a couple of days before, then veered off to fly up to the Cairngorms National Park, sneaking between Newtonmore and Kingussie, before ending up on the Black Isle. As I write, she’s spending her time around the Daviot and Loch Moy areas. Maybe that’s her summer holidays over with?
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentBridgend’s bird gets itchy feet
Friday, 08 July 2011
Phew! Well, since we last wrote about Bridgend’s as yet un-named male kite (Male 54344), he’s been on quite a tour of north and east Scotland. At the end of May he was hanging around the Achentoul area in Sutherland, but decided to fly south on the last day of the month, flying pretty much via Dornoch and Invergordon to spend a couple of days on the Black Isle. He must have forgotten something though, because he returned north, ending up just west of Wick, then went back to Achentoul for a couple of weeks, no doubt to prepare for what was to follow! By June 24th, he needed a change of scene so flew south, travelling to the west of Loch Brora before spending the night west of Tore on the Black Isle. Not satisfied with his journeying, he continued the next day and flew right through the Cairngorms National Park - his route taking him between Aviemore and Boat of Garten (no doubt he paid his respects to EJ and Odin at the Osprey Centre…). An overnight stop near Glenfarquhar Lodge saw him wake up refreshed and ready to visit royalty as he flew close to Balmoral and spent a couple of days checking out Royal Deeside. But his travels haven’t stopped there! In a one day journey, Male 54344 then travelled down to Fife, over Leuchars (wonder if he saw the Red Arrows?) to some woodland at Largoward. His itchy feet satisfied, he then returned to woodland just north of Brechin, which is where we leave him! Who knows where he’ll be next time?
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentLewis keeps busy
Friday, 08 July 2011
Lewis had a busy few days at the beginning of the month. He seems to be favouring the edge of some woodland around the Leys Castle area and also around Loch Moy, but early in July he decided he’d like a change of scene and went for a little jaunt around the Black Isle for a couple of days. He obviously missed his adopted home though, because after a little diversion to the uplands south west of Carnoch, he went straight back to the woodland near Leys Castle. Maybe he was visiting a few of his old haunts? Or catching up with some old friends? It is the holidays after all…
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentPhoenix update
Friday, 08 July 2011
Phoenix is proving to be a bit of a mystery at the moment as we haven’t heard from him for a while. In early June he seemed to be dodging between the Loch Moy and Tore areas, and the last position we have for him is just west of Tore. The tags do sometimes have a bit of a blip and stop sending us info for a while, but we’re also wondering if Phoenix’s tag is maybe nearing the end of its lifespan - he is one of our original birds, so was tagged in 2009, and the tags are reckoned to last around a couple of years. We’ve had a lot of interesting stuff from Phoenix in that time - remember the epic tour of Northern Ireland? Fingers crossed that we’ll hear from him again soon. Watch this space!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed Arrow update
Thursday, 30 June 2011
There’s been a bit of a lull since the last blog entry, so apologies for that - a changeover in staff here at ETTS HQ has meant everyone’s mucking in and getting to grips with new jobs, so please be patient whilst we get proficient with the blog writing!
Since June 8th Red Arrow has shown he’s a creature of habit and has stayed around the Tomatin, Loch Moy and Corrievorrie areas. He’s made occasional forays up to the Black Isle and also seems to like the Strathpeffer / Muir of Ord area, the last position we have for him showing him to be just north east of Marybank.
Rosie hotfoots it across to outskirts of Stonehaven..
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
After spending much time earlier in the month near to South Clunes in the Kirkhill area of Inverness-shire we recorded Rosie moving south east of here to Farr House on the morning of Saturday 11th June. By the morning of the next day she had progressed further south east and skirted Nethybridge to land at lunchtime just off the A940 Grantown to Forres road just short of Logie. She appeared to roost for the night of the 12th in woodland west of Dallas in Morayshire and again the following night to the south east of Loch of Blairs. On the 14th she flew from here to the outskirts of Stonehaven, between midday and 2pm alone covering a distance of roughly 60 miles as the crow flies. She appeared to night in woodland to the north west of Stoney and the following day was recorded at 10am over open ground by Bervie water. We will update any new positions from this dispering bird that come in tomorrow so you can track her next moves..
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed Baron - no more updates
Friday, 10 June 2011
Red Baron is a first year male adopted by Cradlehall Primary. Our last report from him was posted on 28th May following data that we received on the 26th. Sadly there have been no more transmissions from this bird since then and given the length of time that has passed and high amount of available daylight to charge his tag it looks unlikely that anymore contact will be made. Up until 2pm on the 25th Red Baron had been ranging between Loch Moy and Moy Hall alongside two of our other tagged birds, Phoenix and Lewis who we are still receiving data for. Without future sightings of this bird and his wing tags we can not say with certainty what has happened to him and/or his satellite tag.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentLewis update
Friday, 10 June 2011
After roosting on the Black Isle on the evening of the 2nd, Phoenix was recorded above Castle Heather Drive in Inverness at 10am on the following morning. By midday he had flown down to uplands north east of Moy where he remained for the rest of that day. Lewis has remained in the Moy area for much of the rest of the week aside from one recorded trip back to Munlochy on the evening of the 5th. His most recent position placed him at 6pm to the north west of Loch Moy.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentPhoenix - bird of habit
Wednesday, 08 June 2011
From 1st - 3rd June Phoenix was spending daylight hours either on uplands to the east of Daviot or touring about a relatively small area from the north western edge of Loch Moy to the north of Moy hall. He is using woodland nearby for roosting. From the 4th June Phoenix has been touring about the Black Isle specifically woodland patches between Newton of Ferintosh, Cullicudden and Raddery areas. A position at 6pm on the 6th June placed him once again over woodland just north east of Moy hall.
1 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed Arrow update
Wednesday, 08 June 2011
Since the beginning of June this male has spent much of his time in the Strathpeffer and Loch Ussie area dispersing south of here to Kiltarlity and to the south western edge of Inverness on the 4th and 5th. At midday on the 6th June he was positioned just north west of Corrievorrie in the Findhorn valley and by 2pm had flown to the west of Bogallan. By the evening he had progressed to woodland near Newton of Ferintosh close to the Leanaig.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentMothering duties - Prof Feathers
Wednesday, 08 June 2011
On the 24th May we had confirmation that this female (now jointly adopted by Aviemore, Carrbridge and Grantown primaries) was sitting on a nest in Aberdeenshire, paired up with a male red kite from the Aberdeen population. A lot of the data coming off her tag during May was displaying as ‘low volt’, not surprisingly a result of her being positioned under the canopy for much of the past 2 months. We received an update from this bird on 7th May, not complete data but one GPS position showing she has been stretching her cramped wings with a flight on the afternoon of the 6th to the north of her nest. By now she will likely be sharing chick feeding duties with her partner and certainly by this stage the demand from hungry growing young will be very high indeed. We hope to provide more updates on this bird and her brood over the next month.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentTollie 28/05/11
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Couple of heavy downpours this afternoon which meant very little activity at Tollie today at least before 4pm. Around 1.45pm we watched our regular 2 year old male, ‘black triangle’ being mobbed by a crow over the field to the left of the building. In other news our outside screen is currently being extended to include a lower section for children and a viewing slot accessible for wheelchair users. Towards the end of the summer we hope to have a compost toilet in place at the end of the screens. Smaller birds spotted today included swallows, chaffinches, pied wagtails and a great spotted woodpecker feasting on the nut feeder. Thanks again to Ronald Mackinnon for his shot of the latter in action on a previous trip to Tollie.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentAnd Phoenix at Moy too!
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Still to be found in the Moy area is our third male Phoenix. This bird is following a similar pattern to Red Baron, transitting between woodland off the north west side of Loch Moy and open ground and woodland to the north of Moy hall. It is likely that without partners these bachelor birds could have hooked up for the summer. Being social in this way has its advantages including helping each other locate food sources.
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Lewis also at Moy
Saturday, 28 May 2011
This male continues to be resident to Moy, often roosting in woodland to the west side of Loch Moy. On 24th May at 4pm he was recorded on uplands to the east of Daviot however the majority of his fixes from the past week have placed in the Loch Moy and Moy hall vicinity. It is likely there are plenty of rabbits round these parts which help sustain the red kites hanging about this area.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed Arrow in Strathnairn
Saturday, 28 May 2011
In the past week Red Arrow has been recorded travelling between locations on the western fringes of the Black Isle and Strathnairn. In particular this bird is commonly recorded over farm and uplands surrounding the small settlement of Flichity and south of here to uplands south east of Aberarder. On the 24th May at midday, Red Arrow flew further south east of here and visited Corrievorrie in the Findhorn valley a spot he was resident to between June and September last year. His last position came through today (28th) and recorded him at 10am this very morning over open ground east of Flichity and the B851.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed Baron remains in Moy
Saturday, 28 May 2011
This male continues his residence of the Moy area in particular following a pattern which involves roaming between woodland to the north west of Loch Moy and open ground north of Moy hall, the ancestral home of the chiefs of Clan Mackintosh. Other tagged birds recorded roosting and foraging in the area include Phoenix and Lewis. Our last position from Red Baron came through on Thursday 26th and contained data right up to 2pm on the 25th. We expect to hear more from this bird tomorrow.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentCloser to home Rosie
Saturday, 28 May 2011
After making a long dispersal trip at the start of the month which saw Rosie take in the sights of Lochaber, Torridon and Sutherland the past week has seen this bird remaining local to the Muir of Ord area. Looking at the data coming off her tag there have been a few missing gps positions which suggest the transmitter has not been charging properly and this looks like it is due to low battery voltage which can occur whenever the tag does not get enough light. The majority of fixes we have received from Rosie have located her to woodland to the north east of the village where she has possibly been taking shelter under canopy from some of the rain showers we have seen this week.
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Male 54344 still in Sutherland
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Bridgend Primary school’s red kite remains in Sutherland. In the past week his positions have showed him ranging between a conifer block and open moorland to the north east of Achentoul, east of the A897.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentBridgend’s bird exploring Sutherland
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
From May 1st to 20th, male 54344 had mainly been touring locally around the Newton of Ferintosh area of the Black Isle with a few travels out to Drumsmittal, Rosehaugh and Muir of Ord areas. A position at 10am on the 20th May placed him nearby Tollie red kite feeding station in Ross-shire. On the 21st May at 8am he was recorded in woodland to the north of Tore; by 10am he had trekked all the way up to Strath of Kildonan with a position bang over the A897 just west of Torrish. By midday he was north of Kildonan Lodge and by 6pm he was recorded to a patch of woodland just north west of Kinbrace where he presumably roosted for the night. The following day (22nd) positions up to 2pm recorded him ranging to the west of Auchentoul.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentProfessor Feathers settles down.. in Aberdeenshire!
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
We now have confirmation that one of our female red kites from 2009 is sitting on a nest in Aberdeenshire after pairing up with a male bird originating from the Aberdeen red kite reintroduction project. Professor Feathers as she has recently been crowned by adoptive pupils at Aviemore, Carrbridge and Grantown primaries has been pretty static since about the 11th April, her position placing her in a stand of trees located in an area of farmland to the west of Laurencekirk. Despite this inactivity other recordings from her tag were suggesting that she was infact still alive and given the time of year along with age and sex of the bird we suspected that she could infact have settled onto her very first nest. Her GPS position has been checked on foot and she was observed hunkered down inside a large nest in a beech tree whilst her partner was spotted flying around the immediate vicinity. This is particularly exciting news since Prof Feathers is the first one of our satellite tagged kites recorded settling down. Typically red kites like to return to where they hatched out themselves to raise their own young however this female has been pretty resident to Kincardineshire since the summer of 2010 and it is possible she paired up with her east coast partner over the winter months at a social roost. Eggs are usually laid from the beginning of April and typically take 4 weeks of incubation to hatch so we expect by now that Prof Feathers could be keeping young chicks warm at the nest all being well. In order to keep this nest site secret we have omitted highlighting its location on the map page however we will endeavour to provide updates on this bird and her brood as the breeding season progresses. As part of ongoing monitoring red kite nest sites are visited by experienced observers from mid June to record brood sizes and chick health so we will post this information up as we receive it.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentTollie 21/05/11
Monday, 23 May 2011
.JPG)
We had a good day at Tollie on Saturday despite the presence of some rather foreboding rainclouds over to the west. The rain when it came was fairly light and in between there were some bright spells which really fired up the chestnut red plumage of the kites that were spotted. Between about 12 and 5pm there were a maximum of three red kites around with plenty of whistling and exciting interactions with one another as well as crows. One juvenile bird with a noticeable missing tail feather perched up for a good while on one of the trees by the pond allowing us to focus the scope for a detailed look. This bird made a couple of swoops above the table about 3.30pm but resettled without taking anything. A little while later this juvenile had a short but noisy tussle with a buzzard in amongst the trees with the same buzzard emerging to snatch a morsel of meat from the table. This was swiftly followed by two red kites tumbling twice each at the table which was great to watch! Thanks to local photographer Ronald Mackinnon for letting us post his snaps up - the first one shows the juvenile bird with the moulted tail feather while the second captures two of the kites having a wee set to. The bird on top of the second picture has a pink right and blue left set of wing tags telling us it was born in 2009 on the Black Isle.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed kites flocking to Moy uplands
Friday, 20 May 2011
We currently have 3 tagged and active red kites spending a lot of time roaming about the Moy uplands and particularly concentrating a lot of their activity close to Moy hall and Loch Moy just off the A9 and north of Tomatin - Lewis and Phoenix, 2 year old males and a 1 year old male named Red Baron by Cradlehall Primary. The Moy uplands have proved to be somewhat of a favoured destination for dispersing red kites in general and it is only a short distance away from their site of origin on the Black Isle lying south east from here across the Moray Firth and over the Culloden moor. Previously tagged birds ranging here have also included Sky and Swooper Trooper.
During early March Red Baron was commonly sighted at Tollie red kite feeding station before departing at the very end of the month for Grantown on Spey and the Cromdale hills. A short trip back to the Beauly area in mid April preceded closer travels in and around Moy where Red Baron has remained up to 18th May. A position at 6pm on 18th recorded him just north of Moy house either above or resting in a line of trees surrounded by farmland. Interestingly a very similar position at the same time and date was also recorded for Phoenix - its possible these two social birds roosted here together that night.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRosie - west coast travelling
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Rosie, a one year old female adopted by Maryburgh Primary School has had a very active month so far covering Lochaber, Wester Ross and Sutherland in a matter of days! On the 1st of May, Rosie left the Black Isle and headed south via Foyers and Fort Augustus to spend the evening in woodland to the north west of Banavie, a small village on the outskirts of Fortwilliam. She progressed north west of here the following day, by midday hitting the Torridon area before changing course again north east and a few hours later hitching up along the shores of Loch Shin. It appears she roosted somewhere to the north west of Loch Fleet that evening. A woodland position was recorded the following morning at 10am in Easter Ross just north of Milton of Cadboll. Its possible she rested here after her non-stop travels but not for long since by midday she was recorded just to the south of Munlochy. Within the last week she has been roaming closer to home around the Muir of Ord area and on Sunday (15th) flew south east to Strathnairn in the morning before heading back west past Moniack Mhor and finally settling in for the night in woodland close to Newton of Ferintosh.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentPoppy and Male 93837 - no more updates
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Poppy is a one year old female adopted last year by Dochgarroch primary. In the months after she fledged in the Muir of Ord area Poppy had clocked up a lot of mileage, travelling south in mid October through Lochaber and Argyll to the outskirts of Glasgow before heading back north via Helensburgh and Crianlarich to the scenic glens around Corrimony. Within days she was pushing south once again using almost exactly the same route as before, this time landing on the outskirts of Largs by the 9th December. Unfortunately we lost satellite contact with her a few days after this - the run of data preceding this had been indicating that the tag was running at low voltage, most likely a result of the limited daylight available. Sadly we have not had any more signals from this bird since then so have no more news on her whereabouts or condition. It is unlikely satellite contact will be re-established given the length of time that has gone by, particularly as light conditions have been very good over the past few months.
Similarly we have no more reports on another kite born and tagged last year, this time a male bird, identified by his tag number 93837. He was due to be adopted by children of Kingussie Primary who have already received red kite information assemblies. Unlike Poppy, we did not see this male disperse within the short length of time we received data on his movements. From the beginning of August to the end of October the vast majority of this birds time was spent in the Munlochy Bay area and if you click on the ‘All locations’ setting on his map page you will see the resultant cluster of data points concentrated here. Shortly before we lost satellite contact with this bird we did track him on the 27th October making a day trip to the south east of Loch Duntelchaig via Dores before returning to the Black Isle. A run of low voltage data also preceded our loss of contact with this bird and sadly we have not had any more signals through from his tag since the beginning of November 2010.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentBlaize - lost tag
Monday, 16 May 2011
Blaize is a first year male adopted by Newtonmore Primary school. Up to the end of last year he spent time roaming locally in the Munlochy Bay area before his tag battery ran flat due to light scarcity over December and January. Blaize was spotted at a winter roost site alongside other juvenile kites in January and we regained satellite contact with this bird in mid February recording him in the North Kessock area. We have once again lost contact with this bird, his last satellite position coming through on 24th March at 7pm. The last couple days worth of data we have for Blaize placed him in the Muir of Ord area. A ground search of the most recent position found a moulted red kite feather but no other sighting. Quite a lot of the juvenile birds have been spotted undergoing a moult in the past couple of months. We hope to reconnect with this bird whether by satellite or actual sighting (Blaize has two blue wing tags with number 93 in white) however as there has been plenty of light to charge up the battery on his tag we are disappointed it has stopped transmitting in the first place and not entirely hopeful it will restart. It is very difficult to know whether this is a tag or bird problem. Obviously we hope Blaize is still active and continuing on with his journey to adulthood. As he has so far remained in the local area it is not beyond the realms of possibility that we may spot him again in the future and we will keep you posted on this.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentMale 54344
Monday, 16 May 2011
Yet to be named by children at Bridgend Primary, ‘male 54344’ is a first year bird born in May 2010. The data which has since come off his satellite tag does not appear to suggest he has made any significant dispersal movements away from the Black Isle, instead this bird has frequented the Munlochy bay, North Kessock and Ferintosh areas of the peninsula. The most recent of his movements on
9th and 10th May has recorded him roosting in woodland just off the top of the Leanaig, the stretch of A835 running between Tore and Maryburgh and a very popular spot with local kites.
Tollie 13/05/11
Friday, 13 May 2011
A bright and sunny if not a little windy afternoon up at Tollie. We had good views of two kites after feeding time, one of which stayed close to the building for most of the afternoon with occasional flights over the table - no feeding was observed (at least not before 4pm) but this obliging kite was showing up beautifully in the sunlight as were the swallows sitting pretty on top of the building. We would love to see some of your own shots taken at Tollie and with permission, load them up onto these pages. Please email any suitable photos to the project address as follows: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Thanks in anticipation!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentPhoenix
Friday, 13 May 2011
Phoenix (our third 2 year old male!) spent the beginning of May ranging around Ferintosh and Tore on the Black Isle and of course sustained his usual forays south across the firth and Culloden moor to the Moy uplands east of Daviot. Phoenix has also lately been approaching the Moy uplands from its west side - a morning position at 10am on the 7th May placed him by Lochend and by lunchtime he had progressed further east to the SE of Loch Moy. He spent the evening of 9th May roosting in coniferous wood to the north of Loch Moy, a mere 2km away from where Lewis spent the very same evening.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentLewis
Friday, 13 May 2011
Lewis (also a 2 year old male) has spent the past week travelling between Newton of Ferintosh and Munlochy Bay on the Black Isle and more recently south east of here on the Moy uplands. He roosted in coniferous wood to the west of Loch Moy on the night of 9th May. We expect to receive more data on Lewis’s movements this lunchtime.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed Arrow
Friday, 13 May 2011
Red Arrow (now a 2 year old male) has spent a large portion of the month roaming by Flichity just south of Farr in Strathnairn. He has lately been transitting across the north end of Loch Ness between this location and Muir of Ord and Marybank areas on the western boundary of the Black Isle. Throughout April Red Arrow was a regular visitor to the Farr area often roosting for the night close to the RSPB’s Loch Ruthven reserve by Croachy.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentIt’s chick-time!
Thursday, 12 May 2011
The beginning of May is usually the time when red kite eggs start hatching after a month’s incubation by the adult female. Our north Scottish kites are usually very productive laying within the range of 2-4 eggs at the beginning of April. Broods of 4 are fairly common suggesting these birds live in good conditions for breeding up here where factors such as food supply, availability of habitat and climate are all favourable. The newly hatched chicks are brooded by the female for a further 2-3 weeks whilst they are still covered in down. During this time the adult male will busy himself by supplying food for the whole family. When the chicks are small they’re fed on manageable strips of meat and after about 3-4 weeks the parents no longer feed the chicks directly and food is instead left on the nest for them to tear apart themselves. In another couple of weeks we hope to see more adult birds re-visiting Tollie in the afternoons as they roam further from nest sites locating food to satisfy the growing chicks appetites.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentTollie latest
Thursday, 05 May 2011
A shot now taken on 20th April at Tollie of one of our regular kite visitors (inverted black triangle!) taking from the table. April is egg laying and incubation month for red kites hence we havent had the big numbers visiting that we saw during winter. On the day this photo was taken however, a total of 7 kites were spotted diving for food allbeit a bit later than the feed time of 2.30 pm.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentNew feeding time
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Just a quick reminder that since the clocks sprung forward we are now feeding at 2.30pm up at Tollie. This picture was snapped yesterday by volunteers Margaret and Andy and shows one of our regular diners at the site - left blue tag with an inverted black triangle and pink bar on bottom showing its a juvenile from 2009. After the buzz of winter we’re beginning to see the effects of the start of the breeding season in terms of numbers of kites visiting the table. Yesterday four red kites were feeding by 3pm and in previous days we have gone down to just two birds. This is to be expected for the next few months as adult kites spend more time at their nests particularly as we creep closer to the start of egg laying. But wandering juveniles should still be regular visitors and once eggs hatch towards the end of April the adults should remember the site for bringing back titbits to the nest.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentCaught on camera..
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
This past Sunday was windy and bright up at Tollie and at least 12 kites were out to play by 3.30pm. Not a lot of feeding occurred but instead plenty aerial action including swooping, climbing and talon tussling. Interactions with a couple of buzzards was also enojyed by a total of 8 visitors. But another bird also came out of hiding.. since the last pictures of crossbills were posted up more than a week ago, these birds have proved to be quite elusive in the area but happy snapper Catherine Clark managed to capture this female sitting pretty on the roof of the viewing building - whilst most other folk were eyes front enthralled with the kite display. Thanks to Catherine for sending through!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentMinced meat anyone?
Friday, 18 March 2011
A couple of brilliant pics here sent in by a lady living by Muir of Ord and capturing a couple of our satellite tagged birds, Red Arrow and Rosie in feeding action. These opportunistic birds were enticed into her back garden on one of our recent snow days by the lure of some minced beef. Red kites are more commonly snatch and fly eaters, preferring to feed on the wing or carry titbits off to a safe perch to consume. However, in this case it appears they have chosen to hoover up the small pieces from the ground in company of other scavengers including buzzards and crows. I guess strands of minced beef can resemble wiggly earthworms which they commonly indulge in, often by landing onto fields where their ungainly walk becomes evident - long tail and small, short talons means red kites often give off the appearance of waddling when on ground! You can clearly see the satellite tag aerials peeking out of the back feathers of each of these birds and of course their wing tags give away their identity also. Check out the map section and you’ll see both these birds have been spending the last wee while in the vicinity of Muir of Ord - its great to be able to get live sightings like this so thanks to the photographer for sending through! Feeding red kites is a popular activity in areas where these birds are common. For best practice guidelines on this activity please contact us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a comment15th March feeding frenzy
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
A cold day at Tollie yesterday and plenty snow still on the ground as we put the afternoon’s feed out at 1.30pm. Plenty whistling going on from many hidden perched kites which crescendoed steadily until about 2.15pm when the crows moved in for a bite to eat. This drew the kites in closer but as ever it wasnt until a couple of buzzards actually landed on the table that the longer winged scavengers started feeding themselves. By 2.30pm there was a minimum of 10 kites all swirling round and grabbing scraps off the table while the hardy buzzards flinched but held their ground on the flat platform. Crows also milled around and grabbed pieces here and there. This activity lasted a further half an hour before all the food disappeared and there were at least 7 kites hanging around until 5pm. Fantastic photo thanks to volunteer Neil! Why not come and see this marvellous acrobatic display for yourselves? Be prepared to wait it out - we are not quite yet as consistent as the more established feeding stations in Perthshire and Galloway but the patience is well worth it!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentIrish tour for Black Isle youngster
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
This cracking photograph was taken back on the 12th February 2011 at Caherciveen, County Kerry, Ireland on the south side of Dingle bay. It depicts a Black Isle born red kite, distinguishable by its left blue wing tag and born last year (as revealed by the blue wing tag on the right). This juvenile female, the eldest of a brood of three was tagged last summer in mid June at a site near to Strathpeffer in Easter Ross. She’d certainly wandered far from home but apparently had been hanging around with an untagged individual since the new year, the pair of them becoming rather famous by excited kite spotters in that area. It is unclear where this second kite has originated from however Ireland has played host to two kite reintroductions itself, one in the north and the other in the south east of the Republic - perhaps a roaming juvenile from one of these populations. This again shows the value of wing tag marking, allowing us to gain insights into the far flung movements of these birds. Ireland appears to be a fave destination for our northern kites as we’ve also seen a couple of satellite tagged juveniles roaming off in that direction. Whilst we have yet to see the majority of last years youngsters make any definitive moves away from their natal grounds, the arrival of spring seems to set their sights on adventuring so we may see some further interesting travels in the weeks to come..
1 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentMarch kites - pairing and display
Monday, 14 March 2011
March is one of the most active months for red kites as it’s this time of year that they perform their necessary courtship rites, a collection of behaviours which intensify in the weeks leading up to nest building and egg laying in late March/early April. Red kites will usually pair for life once they start breeding at around the age of two or three and while their bond loosens during the social winter months, a pair will often stick close together all year round sometimes even revisiting nesting areas in the thick of winter. The larger communal winter roost sites which these gregarious birds share can indeed be important places for newly matured kites to partner up. Red kites are probably less flamboyant than most birds of prey in their attempts to woo one another with morning displays involving slow, high circling and flying in convoy with deep exaggerated wingbeats commonly reported. The shrill whistles of the red kite particularly from the male can also accompany such flights, quite literally, of fancy. Faster and more physical displays involving talon grappling and rollercoaster chasing are also occasionally sighted however are not frequently reported in red kites. Infact engaging in fisticuffs can also double as an aggressive move between rival birds. Why is annual courtship so important for these monogamous birds? A pair can potentially last well over a decade so surely they know what they’ve gotten themselves into at a fairly early stage.. Well, its good to keep the romance alive of course and infact its vitally important for sustaining the pair bond, a critical factor in determining their breeding success! A red kite pair will usually return to the same nest site year after year although they are particularly sensitive to human disturbance at this early stage of the breeding season and may abandon a site if they are routinely unsettled before laying their eggs. Keep a look out for kites over the rest of the month as they will be lying low during Spring and early Summer attending to young of the year.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentIf you go down to Tollie today..
Sunday, 13 March 2011
..you’d be surprised at what you might find there. Granted it is billed as a red kite viewing station but that hasnt stopped a host of other birds joining in the fun. For instance a couple of weeks ago we were thrilled to spot a little gang of crossbills perched on top of the visitor building chittering away, photo evidence here courtesy of volunteer Mike Evans. More usually these colourful birds (brick red males and greenish brown females) flock high up in the canopies of Scots Pine trees so it was a real treat to be able to watch them for a good while much closer to ground and apparently tolerant of a small human audience. Their crossed bills which they use skillfully to extract pine cone seeds may be seen in the photograph. Now we have seen a full year out at Tollie we are much more familiar with the common resident birds of the area as well as summer and winter visitors. The rolling fields around Tollie are bordered by both coniferous and deciduous woodland allowing for a diverse range of bird and indeed wildlife in general. Of course sightings of other scavenger birds including buzzards and ravens are common and even in the summer it has been observed that pied wagtails are not averse to landing on the kite feeding table to peck away at any meat scraps. Other raptors seen in the area include sparrowhawks, kestrels, ospreys in the warmer months and even a rare glimpse of a goshawk by a keen eyed volunteer in the Autumn of last year. Swallows, house martins and swifts flit o’er the fields in the summer months while the melodic ripples of willow warblers may also be heard from the woods at this time of year. The domain of crossbills at the pine tops is shared by elusive goldcrests - listen carefully and you may just hear their thin, jingly calls. As we leave the winter months behind we’ll see less of the fieldfares and redwings hopping across the fields but we should retain a number of birds coming to our smaller feeders for seed and nut snacks. These include great spotted woodpeckers, siskins, chaffinches, yellowhammers and many different tit species. So next time you come, don’t forget to bring your binoculars!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentIntroducing… Bridgend’s bird
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Currently known as male ‘54344’ in our map section, Bridgend Primary School in Alness adopted this red kite at the tail end of last year. He fledged his nest in the first week of August 2010 but even before this pivotal moment, this bird had already had a hairy adventure of his own. His natal area was on Brahan Estate land between Maryburgh and Contin and close to the Tollie red kite feeding station. However, in mid July 2010 he fell out of his nest and was discovered by an estate worker at the foot of a very tall tree indeed! It is not uncommon to find these so called ‘jumpers’ and causes of such falls can range from a youngster walking too far backwards when attempting to defecate out of the nest, to parts of established nests just caving out after many years of use. It was decided that rather than try to return this bird to his nest (since doing so could well have caused his jumpy siblings to fledge too early) we would attempt to foster it off to another nest on the Black Isle where the adult birds were known to be capable parents and chicks were at an earlier stage of development. This transfer was successful (such accommodating birds these red kites!) and the result was another healthy youngster to add to last year’s minimum of 87 fledged young. Since August 2010, this male has been taking it easy, his travels centring around Munlochy bay, a known catchment area for youngsters. On the 9th March he moved across the Moray Firth to Nairnshire - could this be the beginnings of a longer foray? Incidentally the number 54344 is the ID number of this male’s satellite tag and we’re just awaiting Bridgend to supply us with a much more befitting name tag for the kite himself!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed kites and ravens
Friday, 04 March 2011
Our walk along the Knockfarrel ridge this morning was a blustery one to say the least but the winds brought out a couple of kites that we watched being buffeted around from above. A chance sighting of a red kite usually consists of a glimpse from underneath their magnificent wingspans so it was great to be able to look down for a change and see just how these opportunistic birds exploit the air. It wasn’t just red kites out and about - we were also treated to the somersaults of a displaying raven showing off its diamond shaped tail to full effect and cronking away to a hidden female. Reaching Tollie for feed time we then heard the distinctive whistles of the red kite however the birds themselves kept their distance for a good hour before venturing a little closer to inspect the treats on offer. There are now only four guided walks left to this programme and these take place on the 11, 12, 18 and 25th March. Come along for 11.30am to the Knockfarrel ridge car park to learn more about these wonderful birds and see them in action. Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for precise details of the walk meeting point.
1 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentToday at Tollie
Wednesday, 02 March 2011
A deceptively cold afternoon at the feeding station but that certainly didn’t keep the kites at bay. We had invited Aigas and Highland Council ranger staff up to Tollie today to check out what we were up to and everyone was treated with some fine views and sounds from a minimum of 12 kites shortly after feeding time. Still wary, these birds don’t make a move to feed unless a buzzard lands first - when this happens its amazing how fast the red kites move in, not wanting to miss out on any of the food scraps. Shortly after our first visitors left we were joined by a few others and all then enjoyed watching the repercussions of a brave buzzard landing on the table. This instigated a short frenzy whereby at least 16 kites were circling the table, a few of these diving and twisting down to pick up titbits thrown on the grass. By the time I left today (around about 3.30pm) many of these kites had settled into nearby trees but were still whistling away. The photo below was taken by volunteer Neil Duffus on Saturday 26th February depicting two juvenile males (born spring 2010) shortly before engaging in a talon tussle. Just goes to show that even if the kites aren’t feeding, there is always something to watch out for! Why not come and see for yourself?
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentNew additions to website
Wednesday, 02 March 2011
Apologies for the absence of any info of late but this website has been undergoing a number of alterations to improve it and encourage more of you lovely lot to interact with it more. We now have new birds to track on the google map, more images and some new information about our red kite feeding station at Tollie including a long awaited map of where it actually is! In addition, you now get the chance to leave comments on our blog postings and send us images of any red kites you spot for us to upload. The map transitions will still take a little while to upload but we’ll let you know when they become current again…
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed kite walk - Fri 4th Feb
Monday, 31 January 2011
On as usual this Friday at 11.30am, please join us for a morning walk across Knockfarrel. This is a great area for red kites and on occasion it is possible to catch sight of them foraging across the fields below. Afterwards we’ll pay a trip to the feeding station for the 1.30pm feed. For more information email the Eyes to the Skies team on .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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Red Arrow remains in Strathconon
Monday, 31 January 2011
This male born in the summer of 2009 continues to spend the winter to the south and west of Contin in Ross-shire, flying between the Muirton Mains area and upstream of Loch Achonachie. At the moment we are only receiving afternoon positions through from this bird but the latest of these in today are accurate placing him over riverine habitat close to Scatwell House. Beauly Primary were visited only just last week and given an update on the whereabouts of their adopted bird. With daylength already beginning to draw out we should expect to begin to receive more positions through from Red Arrows satellite tag in the coming weeks.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentPhoenix daytripping to Moy uplands - 31st Jan 2011
Monday, 31 January 2011
Data through today sees Phoenix continue his almost daily pilgrimage south east of the Black Isle, passing through the moors of Culloden to end up high on Moy’s uplands to the east of Daviot. Back on homeground, we have seen him navigate across to Culbokie (27th Jan) as well as ranging about Drumsmittal areas where his last known position was at 2pm on 30th January.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed kite walk - Fri 21st Jan
Friday, 21 January 2011
Come along this Friday to Knockfarrel for a ramble across the ridge to hopefully spot red kites soaring below but also to learn more about their fascinating behaviours and history. Afterwards, we’ll pay a visit to Tollie Red Kite feeding station where you might get a second chance to see these beautiful birds up close. Bring warm clothes, waterproofs, binoculars and sturdy footwear as the path is uneven and steep in places. For more information and to receive a map of the walk route please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentCatching up - 17th Jan 2011
Monday, 17 January 2011
Its been a little while since we had a look at how all our sat tagged kites are doing and similar to last year, the snow showers of December and early January, not to mention the shorter hours of daylight at this time of the year has meant the satellite data has been a little slow to reach us. The small solar panels on the surface of each satellite tag have probably struggled to suck in enough available light to keep the unit charged up and ready to send data via space to our computers. Nevertheless we have been able to keep some tabs on a few of our birds… Phoenix (a female born in 2009 and adopted by Daviot) continues to travel from the Black Isle across Culloden Moor down to the Moy area and back again; Poppy (a female born in 2010 and adopted by Dochgarroch Primary school) flashed up in mid December with a few positions just outside Largs in North Ayrshire; Poppy’s brother and sister, Red Baron (adopted by Cradlehall Primary) and Rosie (adopted by Maryburgh Primary) have each been spotted live at the new Tollie Red Kite feeding station throughout December and January so far. Clearer and brighter days should help to kick start the rest of the tags so we can provide updates and what the rest of the birds are up to.
Meanwhile roost watches in and around the Black Isle during the month of January have come up with sightings of Culbokie’s kite Swooper Trooper, a female who’s sat tag appears to have packed in since last summer and Farr Primary School’s red kite Lewis. The remaining 3 red kites who were tagged during the summer of 2010 have also been spotted hanging out in a large social group close to home.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed kite walk - Sat 11th Dec 2010
Friday, 10 December 2010
Just a quick note to say that the red kite walk scheduled to take place tomorrow IS ON! We’re taking advantage of this quick thaw and hope that some of you may be able to make it to the Knockfarrel hill behind Lochussie in Ross-shire for a hearty walk along the ridge commencing 11.30am (meeting point at grid ref: NH502 583). This walk does cover uneven terrain and there is a steep slope at the beginning so please wear sturdy shoes and be prepared for windy and/or wet conditions.
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Wing tag spotting at the roost - 3rd Dec 2010
Friday, 03 December 2010
And what of our first year birds tagged way back now over the summer of 2009? Well, some of these have been spotted hanging around red kite winter roost sites across the Black Isle throughout the months of October and November including old friends such as… Swooper Trooper (of Culbokie Primary School), Lewis (Farr PS) and Phoenix (Daviot PS).
Data coming off the satellite tags is still fairly sporadic since the onset of winter however we are still able to track Phoenix pretty well, maintaining his usual travels between the Black Isle and around the Moy and Daviot areas. Daviot Primary school received a visit last week at which they were updated on their birds travels - many children commenting that they’ve seen red kites pass down their way, one or more sightings of which could well have been their own adopted bird.
We’ve been receiving some great images of red kites taken by members of the public through our email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) some of which have clearly shown wing tag colours which is extremely helpful in allowing us to keep a track of birds that havent go satellite tags on. Please contact us if you would like an information sheet on red kite wing tag spotting. Our website is currently under some development so we may even be able to showcase some of these pictures online shortly!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentNew kites, new schools - 3rd Dec 2010
Friday, 03 December 2010
A total of six Black Isle kites were fitted with sat tags this year in the month of July (2 females, 4 males) to add to the 5 kites that still remain trackable from 2009. With these new birds we welcome a new selection of school to the adopt a red kite project and these are Bridgend Primary in Alness, Maryburgh, Cradlehall in Inverness, Dochgarroch by Loch Ness and both Newtonmore and Kingussie Primaries within the Cairngorms National Park area. Some of these primaries have named their kites already and we can exclusively reveal those choices now… Poppy (female - adopted by Dochgarroch), Rosie (female - adopted by Maryburgh) and Red Baron (male adopted by Cradlehall) are all red kites reared from the very same nest close to Muir of Ord. The remaining schools are yet to name their birds.
Whilst these newer kites are not shown on the map yet we hope to get this updated very soon. In the meantime here are some highlights of their journeys since fledging so far..
Poppy - Fledged her nest by end of July 2010. Spent the month of September locally around the Muir of Ord area. Embarked on travels south on the 9th October - was placed on the foothills of Ben Nevis on the morning of the 10th, by the evening of the 11th close to Oban and was tracked to Lochgilphead by 5pm on the 14th. Reached Ayrshire by the 16th then turned North again cutting through Paisley and onward past Loch Lomond spending a number of days by Auchenvennel in Strathclyde. She travelled up through Lochaber again and reached Drumnadrochit and a small area of woodland by Corrimony on the 28th. Positions coming through in November indicate she’s not done with her explorations as she has more recently been tracked to Argyll.
Rosie - Fledged her nest by end of July 2010. Apart from a brief trip to the Roybridge area of Lochaber on the 10th October this bird has so far remained close to home getting acquainted with the farmland surrounding Muir of Ord. More recently she is proving to be somewhat of a regular at Tollie Red Kites feeding station near Maryburgh. An obliging bird, we have been able to take some lovely pictures of her at this spot.
Red Baron - Fledged his nest by the end of July 2010. So far this male has also remained close to home making trips out to Mount Gerald past Dingwall and Jamestown near Contin from the Muir of Ord direction. In November 2010 he was spotted at Tollie Red Kite feeding station.
Male ‘92’ - Bridgend Primary - Fledged his nest late July 2010. Interestingly this bird has already cheated death. During the summer of 2010 he fell out of his original nest near Contin after which he was translocated to a new nest and fostered by a new kite family. This kite has spent his first few months of independence frequenting the Munlochy bay area of the Black Isle, a spot favoured by red kites. Perhaps hooking up with a crowd of youngsters for the winter??
Male ‘93’ - Newtonmore Primary - First significant moves away from the nest occurred on the 8th August. This male has not ventured from the Black Isle yet - instead he’s been touring between Tore and Munlochy bay.
Female ‘91’ - Kingussie Primary - Fledged nest by the start of August 2010. This male has spent all his time so far in the Munlochy area of the Black Isle aside from a trip south to Loch Duntelchaig close to the eastern shores of Loch Ness back on the 27th October.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentGuided walk cancellation - Fri 3rd Dec 2010
Wednesday, 01 December 2010
Unfortunately for the second week in a row, snow has scuppered our walks programme and the ramble due to take place tomorrow has now been cancelled. Roads in and around Tollie remain passable but sections of it are fairly thick and icy and only really made possible with 4-wheel drive. Knockfarrel ridge itself has a generous amount of snow cover on it and even Lochussie is iced over - whilst everything looks beautiful in white, we plan to recommence the walks only once access both on wheels and foot becomes much easier. Please stay tuned for the latest on this and hopefully by next Friday things will have thawed out somewhat.
Feeding at Tollie is still taking place however access up to the building remains fairly tricky - food is disappearing each day although birds arent hanging around that long at the site. Presumably finding someplace warm to digest! Kites will be more pushed to find other sources of food besides the small amount we supply each day at Tollie so keep an eye out for them as they forage - against the white stuff a kites plumage really seems to dazzle all the more so it can be a great time of year to get out if you can and photograph these colourful birds.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentImportant notice: Tollie access and guided walk latest
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Just a note to say that the access road up to Tollie Red Kite Feeding station is fairly treacherous with the recent snow - infact only passable to careful 4-wheel drivers. We are still feeding every day during this period however due to daily weather conditions and ‘feeder’ availability the timing of feeds is currently variable. Please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for the latest information on this.
Similarly the fall of snow has also affected our programme of guided walks which take place along the Knockfarrel ridge. Please telephone 01463 715000 on the morning of the walk to confirm whether or not it will go ahead.
Thanks for your patience!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentTake a walk on the red side
Sunday, 21 November 2010
The approach of winter often heralds an impetus amongst much of our local wildlife to either migrate off to sunnier climes or hunker down and sleep these darker months away.
Not so for our resident north Scottish red kites which make their home all year in and around the Black Isle. After the long summer months filled with the responsibilities of breeding and parenting, these sociable birds get together at this time of year and kick loose, gathering in large numbers at roost sites and filling the skies with their whistling calls. This makes it even easier to spot red kites as colder weather may force these scavenging birds of prey further afield from their usual haunts in search of mainly carrion.
A series of special red kite walks have been organised to provide opportunities to watch these birds in action and learn more about their habits and role in our local countryside. These walks will take place along the Knockfarrel hill, a scenic spot close to Dingwall offering a wonderful panorama, some interesting tales and of course the chance to catch a red kite in flight. Red kites are lots of fun to watch especially at this time of year when their thoughts have shifted to a busy social calendar. Knockfarrel hill itself is a popular walk route for locals and can be a good lookout for watching kites hanging in the thermals.
We welcome adults and family groups on these free one hour walks and are offering participants the optional extra of a guided visit to the new red kite feeding facility at Tollie which is close by. The walks commence from the Knockfarrel hill car park (grid reference NH502583) on Friday the 19th November at 11.30am and run thereafter every Friday until March 25th 2011 (with the exception of Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve). A weekend walk running every second Saturday of the month has also been arranged. Wrap up warm and wear sturdy walking boots as the route consists of rough and uneven terrain. Please email eyestotheskies.org.uk for further information.
Swooper Trooper spotted alive and well on the Black Isle
Thursday, 28 October 2010
Some reassuring news now on one of the 2009 tagged kites who we lost satellite contact with over the summer. Swooper Trooper’s tag last transmitted gps in early July placing her on uplands to the SW of Daviot (see map). After no contact for almost 4 months, in the past 2 weeks she’s been sighted alive and kicking back on the Black Isle and surrounded by fellow kite compatriots at a large Winter roost site. Great news and however unfortunate it is that we appear to have lost the ability to track her in more detail, this live observation really highlights the important monitoring work that can be achieved simply by the dedicated reading of unique wing tags which every reintroduced kite is fitted with at the age of 5 weeks. Swooper Trooper was adopted and named by children in primary 7 Culbokie Primary School last year who have since moved onto High School. Im sure they and the school will be relieved to hear of this recent and welcome development!
1 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentClean tables at Tollie!
Wednesday, 27 October 2010
A little update from our fledgling feeding site up at Tollie near Lochussie in Ross-shire. For the past few weeks now we seem to be enticing in more red kites to come down and feed - problem is they havent quite learned the etiquette here of time keeping. Although we’re spotting at least a couple of birds take an interest as the food is emptied onto the table each day in the early afternoon, far bigger numbers appear to be sneakily arriving in the morning and late afternoon. But still a number of visitors are getting some brilliant views of these birds outside of feeding hours. The red kites are still particularly shy feeding infront of an audience so its still very rare to be lucky enough to catch them in the act - but its all part of the process and the main thing is that they have now associated the area with snacking opportunities and as they become more used to the site, vehicles and spotters they should gradually begin to throw caution to the wind.. And its not just forky tailed scavengers taking an interest.. there has been a distinct rise in the number of ravens cronking about the feeding table, so too buzzards and carrion crows. Again all part of the natural evolution of this site and as the numbers of kites begin to increase about Tollie, these aerial masters should be quite capable of outcompeting other birdlife for the choiciest pickings. With the weather beginning to turn distinctly chillier over the next wee while, we expect that kites may be forced to arrive earlier at the table if they are to be lucky enough to divulge in a strip of deer offal! One things for sure, each day as we take turns to trek across the field and restock the table, its certainly been scraped clean from the previous day!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentBack and forth Phoenix
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Red kite Phoenix’s movements have been predictable for a number of months now and infact after a quick stocktake, turns out he’s spent pretty much the entire year so far shuttling between the Black Isle and Moy area to the South of Inverness. He perhaps shook off his wanderlust with a 2009 Autumn voyage to the North and far North West of Ireland! Since the beginning of October Phoenix has continued spending large parts of the daytime touring about the farm and uplands to the South and East of Daviot - apt travels considering it was Daviot Primary School children who adopted this bird last year and continue to take an interest in his travels. He’s been typically roosting on the Black Isle, setting off from here in the morning to cross over the Moray Firth then Culloden Moor, on occasion making direct flights above Inverness city to head to the now familiarity of the grouse moorlands surrounding Daviot and Moy. His last known position was over moorland to the North North East of Moy Hall on Sunday 10th at 2pm.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentLewis tours Tore
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
After losing contact with Lewis towards the end of September, we’re very glad to be receiving fairly decent data off his satellite tag over the past couple of weeks. Since focusing much of his movements of late in and around Munlochy Bay, Lewis has started travelling a bit more widely around this part of the Black Isle with more recent positions around the village of Tore (last known position on Saturday 9th October at midday to the North West of here). Keep a keen eye out for his unique wing tag combinations - blue left, pink right with a green bar on both!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentCatching up with Red Arrow
Tuesday, 12 October 2010
Red Arrow has been continuing his trip around the Black Isle and between the 4th and 5th October moved from countryside around Allangrange (South West of Munlochy) across to the North Western fringes of the Black Isle and the beautiful scenery around Marybank. Since the 4th October we’ve received only evening updates on Red Arrow so our knowledge of his daytime exploits is pretty limited however he seems to be making fairly localised movements about this particular part of Ross-shire for the moment - on the 5th he was recorded by Jamestown (East of Contin) at 5pm (this spot also incidentally very close and to the West of Tollie Red Kites feeding station) and between the 6-9th October had moved slightly South West of here.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed Arrow returns to Black Isle
Saturday, 02 October 2010
After spending the whole of July and August basing himself within the Findhorn valley where he roosted faithfully by Corrievorrie and was even spotted quartering harvested fields in this area, Red Arrow can more recently be found back on the Black Isle. Quitting the valley back on the 8th September, Red Arrow has since been tracked to CononBridge and Muir of Ord areas (9 - 11th Sept), and Munlochy bay (15-18th Sept). The poor weather of the end of September was the likely culprit of a period of low voltage running off Red Arrow’s sat tag’s battery however we re-connected with him on the 1st October which pinpointed his moves to Munlochy bay on the 26th and more recently the Allangrange area lying to the South West Munlochy, roosting overnight (31st-1st) within woodland very close to the Black Isle Brewery where they churn out the popular Red Kite Ale!
These latest moves mirror what Red Arrow was up to a year ago, when he spent the whole month of October in the Munlochy bay area of the Black Isle, a spot particularly favoured by newly fledged juveniles. Today’s sunshine should provide a welcome boost for the sat tags all round so we’ll update you with Red Arrow’s latest moves as they come in…
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentAutumn kites
Saturday, 02 October 2010
With the business of breeding long forgotten and tail and wing feathers moulted and regrown, red kite thoughts return to the social calendar that is Autumn and Winter! Young juveniles embracing their independance may be spotted mingling locally with counterparts and a proportion of these may already be undertaking their famous dispersive movements away from their birthplace. If not initiated in Autumn, late starters may commence their adventures in the following spring preferring for now to hook up with older birds at traditional winter roost sites. These older birds largely consist of breeding pairs who leave their spring and summer territories and instead consider communal roosts as the focal point of their home range until March. Roost sites are spectacular places to watch kites interacting with one another, usually in late afternoon after they return from a day’s foraging. For young birds it can be a valuable learning centre where they can brush up on their aerial manoevres by chasing one another and playing games of ‘drop and catch’ with sticks!
There seems to be a greater number of kites in the sky than there has been of late and up at Tollie feeding station we are gradually beginning to draw in some of these birds. Today there were 2 kites perched on one of the bare trees leading up the track to the station at 2.20pm as if awaiting a tit-bit or two. Whilst they still seem anxious of snacking infront of an audience, rather than lauching into one of their famous disappearing acts, both kites re-settled after taking off for a short period of circling and once the food had been put out, one of the birds made a circle in the direction of the table before joining its pal. And then of course a carrion crow came across to harangue which saw both kites off for good! I guess there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch! We will shortly be changing our feeding time to winter hours (1.30pm) when the clocks go back - Sunday 31st October this year. We’ll keep you updated with the kite traffic over Tollie but for now, best make the most of the evening light while its here!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentLewis Turns Up!
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Yesterday’s blog note expressed our concern over the loss of communication with the Sat Tags for Spey and Lewis, Grantown and Farr Primary School’s adopted kites. The latest news is that sat tag data received today has picked up Lewis, who appears to be live and well. As we suspected, the culprit is the terrible weather in the area Lewis has been in, as we have received some good data for other kites in areas with better weather. The weather is one of the biggest factors to whether the GPS data we receive is regular and accurate or intermittent and unreliable. Modern technology has some wonderful uses in wildlife conservation, but certainly has its limitations too!
Lewis was tracked slightly North of Munlochy Bay on the Black Isle, which is one of his more recent haunts. He is very close to fellow kite Red Arrow, whose data has also been quite intermittent of late, reflecting the bad weather recently had in that area. Hopefully the weather on the Black Isle will improve slightly so we can get more frequent updates as to what they are both up to.
There still has been no contact with Spey yet, last seen around flying about the Crieff area in Perthshire, but hopefully we will be able to establish contact soon, just as we found Lewis again. We’d be grateful if anyone who spots Spey flying around could let us know where through the website – he can be identified by his wing tags, which have a large yellow ‘X’ on them.
Hopefully by the next blog post, we will have more good news to report.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentMissing kites: Spey and Lewis
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
The dreich weather of late has interfered with the operation of some of our satellite tags with many of them reporting instances of low voltage - simply put, persistant blankets of cloud and a general dampness in the air can serve to interupt the signals pinging between tag, satellite and computer, on occasions leaving us a little in the dark over the whereabouts of some of our birds. We are however worried about a loss of contact with two red kites in particular, Spey (Grantown Primary) and Lewis (Farr Primary) whose last known positions were both actually fairly intact, both birds moving about apparently quite happily. We last received word on these two birds back on the 14th September and the data we received on this day contained positions up to the afternoon and evening of the 13th September. But since then they appear to have vanished off our radars. Spey had last been tracked touring about to the North and North East of Crieff whereas Lewis was right at home on the Black Isle circling within the Munlochy, Tore and Bogallan triangle. In the absence of remote tracking we will now have to rely on live sightings of these birds to confirm each are fit and healthy.
If anyone is out kite spotting in any of these areas it would be great to have more pairs of eyes out searching for them. Both of these birds have blue left and pink right wing tags. In addition to this, Spey has a yellow cross and Lewis a green bar on both wings. Please contact us via the email address at the bottom of the page if you have any info.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentSpey’s In Perthshire!
Thursday, 09 September 2010
As reported on Wednesday 25th August, Spey had been on his travels again. Spey is one of our most adventurous and well-travelled kites, over the last year visiting places as varied as Argyll, Airdrie, Biggar, Peebles, the Balmoral Estate, Rhynie, the Yorkshire Dales, Kendal, Leeds, Callander, Tigh-na-Blair, Strath Tummel, Skipton and Glasgow. As we mentioned on the 25th August, he was visiting Blairgowrie in Perthshire. He is still down in the Perthshire area at the moment, flying through Crieff on the 26th (going North to Corrymuckloch), then appearing at Loch Earn on the 27th. From the 27th to 29th, Spey seems to have attached himself to the town of Comrie, having a particular fondness for the river there that (eventually) comes out into the Firth of Tay, often visiting it and the nearby woodlands. But in typical Spey style, the quiet life does not appeal to him for long and since the start of September, Spey is regularly flying between Comrie, Tullybannocher (which is to the West of Comrie) and Quoig (to the East of Comrie, going into Crieff). If you are in the area and see Spey, please contact us through the website – we love to hear of sightings by members of the public! You can identify Spey by his wingtags, which have a large yellow ‘X’ on them.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentBlack Isle return for Phoenix and Lewis
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
Just when we thought they were settled, in the last week, two of the tagged birds have returned to their Black Isle beginnings. Phoenix (F) and Lewis (H) are two male birds who have been frequenting the Moy area of late. Since the 23rd of August however, Lewis has made a return to his home ground crossing North over the Moray Firth from Culloden moor and has last been recorded on the 29th August in the Munlochy bay area. If we take a look back at Lewis’s wanderings a year ago today we find that he was in this very part of the Black Isle! We wonder if he has been reminiscing about his particularly hairy crash landing into a pheasant pen around these parts way back at the start of August 2009??! Or perhaps he’s spending time socialising with this year’s young around this area and using his own experiences to teach them a thing or two about spreading their wings and staying aloft in the process!
Meanwhile, its as if Phoenix felt a little left out with the sudden disappearance of Lewis (both birds having spent a considerable amount of time ranging very closely together around Moy) and himself departed for a quick return to the Black Isle to see what all the fuss was about on the 28th and 29th August before, satisfied, flying back to Moy. Now, have a go at hitting the ‘All locations’ button for each of these birds. Zoom out and after a quick comparison of the travel histories of each you should find them to be spookily similar! Both birds have spent a considerable time lately shuttling back and forth between the Black Isle and Moy areas and both made publicised trips to the north and west coasts of Ireland allbeit at slightly different times of the year. Looking back in time can be just as interesting as anticipating the next moves of these birds!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentLive sighting of Red Arrow!
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Some news from the Findhorn valley now and it looks like Red Arrow has been spotted out and about on his jaunts by a regular visitor of this site. We received word from this follower that he had spotted a red kite on Saturday 21st at around 4pm between Corrievorrie and the Findhorn itself flying towards Auchintoul. This bird was wing tagged like Red Arrow and when we looked back at his movements that afternoon using the satellite data the position that flagged up at 1600 hrs did indeed tally to the location of the live sighting. We guessed it was only a matter of time until this bird began to be spotted. Red Arrow has made this part of the valley his temporary home now since about mid June this year - it will be interesting to see if he remains here for the winter seeing that he’s obviously quite settled. Keep watching for him! If you manage to get a glimpse of his wing tags in good light they are left blue/right pink with a lower case ‘n’ on both.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentFrom Crieff to Blairgowrie - Spey on a wander?
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
For a good few months now it appeared that Spey (Grantown Primary School) had settled into quite the routine down near Crieff whereby he would typically roost within a few favoured patches of woodland near to this town and spend the daylight hours tootling back and forth between here and uplands close to the Loch Turret Reservoir. We spotted him breaking this pattern on the 22nd August by shifting position slightly North East up to the Blairgowrie area. Campers at the Corriefodly Holiday Park would have been happy to see the distinctive shape of Spey in the sky at around 4pm last Sunday afternoon floating around these parts. By 6pm it looked like Spey had found a comfy patch of coniferous woodland to the West of Bridge of Cally, lying around 5 miles to the North of Blairgowrie. Could this be Spey on the wander again?
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed kites in Strathdearn
Monday, 23 August 2010
Last Wednesday, shortly after we posted up the blog piece about watching out for harvesting kites, we received an email from an observer who had watched on that very day a kite quartering a silage field just as the tractor was cutting it in an area called the Dell of Morlie in Strathdearn. He watched this bird for about 10 minutes taking advantage of the farming operations going on down below before it settled in a nearby tree.
Strathdearn is the general area encompassing the communities of Moy, Dalarossie and Tomatin, lying on both sides of the A9 approximately 15 miles south of Inverness. Dell of Morlie itself lies just to the South of Tomatin, an agricultural area by the river Findhorn. It sounds like this particular bird didnt have any coloured wing tags or even a shiny satellite tag transmitter on its back so that we could identify it as one we are currently tracking. However, this sighting is very close to where our very own Red Arrow is spending much of his time lately. Keep kite watching and do send us through any interesting observations like this, particularly outside of the Black Isle, as it helps us keep tabs on where juvenile birds are roaming to and what they’re getting up to while they’re at it!
Harvesting kites!
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
This is a great time of year to catch sight of a kite or two closely following the activities of harvesting farmers in the local countryside. The cutting of hayfields can make certain food items e.g. invertebrates and small mammals more apparent and accessible for scavenging birds such as the red kite. Potential prey are either killed or displaced and it is common to see red kites swooping at regular intervals in the wake of farm machinery during this time - ever the opportunists! Just the other week, one of the volunteers who helps us out at the feeding station spotted the sudden appearance of 5 red kites over a field further down from the site itself. Upon closer inspection he noted the reason for their interest - a single farmer out a-mowing!
None of these kites were likely to be any of our tagged juveniles from last year however, who all remain outwith the Black Isle for now. Of these, no major travels to report - all of our kites are sticking to the pattern of the past couple of months and remaining pretty faithful to what we imagine are for now, temporary locations. Red Arrow (Beauly) is within the Findhorn valley centring his travels to uplands around here from Corrievorrie… Phoenix (Daviot) is ranging around the Moy area as is Lewis although this bird has of late been making wider travels south of here down the A9 to Tomatin… Spey (Grantown) remains near Crieff in Perthshire. Lastly, we are still awaiting contact with Swooper Trooper (Culbokie) - its now been over a month since we had any information through from her tag although there have been indications that connections between space and earth have been attempted. As before, we’ll let you know if and when we get some data through for this bird. In the meantime, keep a close eye out for forky tailed scavengers scanning over stubbly fields across the Black Isle…
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentNew look map page!
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Some of you may have noticed a change about our map page of late.. we hope this will make it easier for you to follow the progress of our tagged red kites which, it has to be admitted, has until now looked more like a big pile of spaghetti has been thrown randomly onto the computer screen!
By clicking in the first instance on our Map section, you will be guided to the front page of this element which shows each of our birds current positions in relation to one another. From here, click on the downward tab of the top left hand box on the map labelled ‘All red kites’ to select one of the birds for a closer inspection.. the individual maps that follow allow you to explore a particular birds travels at two levels - its last 10 positions and all of its movements since fledging in August 2009! This allows a reminder of some of the longer distance dispersals we’ve tracked over the past year, including a couple of epic adventures over the sea to Ireland. Hovering over each of the points in the lines gives you a date and time associated with that location and you can change the map background to show towns and terrains by selecting tabs on the top right of the map labelled map/satellite/hybrid/terrain.
Finally for a sneaky peak at photos of each of our red kites at the tender age of 5 weeks, click directly on their silhouette on the map itself. The pop up box that opens will also give you a glimpse of their unique wing tag combinations aswell as detailing some history on the bird and information on the primary school that has been involved in adopting them. Happy tracking!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentInto August..
Wednesday, 04 August 2010
As we leave behind July here is an update on the movements of our tagged kites..
Overall, all of our remaining 1 year olds are still ranging about in very localised patches away from the Black Isle. Two of the kites, Phoenix (Daviot) and Lewis (Farr) are continuing to centre their travels around the Moy area, 15 miles S of Inverness and off the A9; Red Arrow (Beauly) is also still touring about Corrievorrie in the Findhorn valley about 8 miles S of these two and finally, Spey (Grantown) is still the furthest away, living it up in Perthshire, particularly close to Crieff and the Loch Turret Reservoir.
So, apparently all content and not feeling the urge to disperse further afield for the time being! We are watching out for news of Swooper Trooper (Culbokie) who we havent heard from since the beginning of July, shortly after we received some low voltage data through from her tag. Fingers crossed this is nothing more than a technical glitch and we’ll let you know as soon as we hear more from this bird.
In other news, anyone out there heading to the annual Black Isle Show today and tomorrow please do drop by the RSPB stand (usually wedged amongst the machinery displays!) for a chat - we’ll also have some craft activities to keep the kids happy and if the weather reports are to be believed, a grand old watertight marquee to keep the downpours out!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentWhere Have All The Kites Gone?
Thursday, 29 July 2010
If you have been following the red kites on our map, you’ll notice that there’s not a great amount of movement from them just now. This may be because of the time of year. If you’re bird watching and see kites with large clumps of missing feathers on their wings, don’t worry! The adults that we track here on the project are currently moulting and they’re spending a lot of time lying low while they regrow their feathers.
Very local movements also help them to conserve energy, as having missing feathers and regrowing them does burn up a lot of calories. Once their wings are back to standard, then no doubt we’ll see the larger distances travelled again, just like before. A number of youngsters are also fledging at the moment, so the next generation of kites will be active in the Highlands very soon. Red kites are very sociable with each other, so we’re looking forward to see how the adults take the youths under their wings.
It seems that, slowly but surely, some kites are making Tollie Feeding Station part of their regular circuit. They certainly fly over Tollie quite regularly and are even occasionally taking food from the table. We regularly have a good number of visitors each day who, even if they don’t see any Kites, will have an informative discussion about them with our friendly and knowledgable army of volunteers, Neil, Magda, Steve, Sue, John, Brian, Bine, Seamus, Kate, Shivonne, Mike, Dennis, Margaret, Andy and Liz. We’re really grateful to these individuals, who freely and willingly give up their time to share information with the everyday public. Thanks, guys! Visitors to Tollie may also occasionally meet our Red Kite Community Officer Claire Buchanan, who is also giving a number of lectures on Kites locally. If you’re interested in Kites and you get the opportunity to visit one of Claire’s lectures, then don’t miss it!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentDitto!
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
No change really from our last blog posting - Spey (Grantown) is still flying around Strathearn and picking up some rather favourite roosting spots in patches of woodland to the North of Crieff; Red Arrow (Beauly) still preferring to spend his time in and around Corrievorrie in the Findhorn valley although making wider jaunts about the surrounding uplands; both Phoenix (Daviot) and Lewis (Farr) likewise roving happily about the uplands around the Moy area, on occasion roosting in the same woodland as one another. Whilst none of these birds are currently aiming for the most well travelled kite award, what is interesting is the routine by which these birds seem to quite happily stick to whether that involves roosting in the same spot night after night or methodically criss crossing an area of ground day in and day out - it is interesting to see these young birds apparently building up an awareness of their surroundings in this way.
We have still to make contact with Swooper Trooper and as the rain continues to fall down, don’t hold out much hope for the next wee while! We really need a few good weather days of clear and bright skies so that we can catch up with this female.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentWhat have Lewis and Spey been up to?
Friday, 16 July 2010
Well, Lewis is another of our kites with a particularly penchant for the uplands East and South East of Daviot - he is the third tagged kite that has been spending a lot of time in this area of late with Swooper Trooper and Phoenix also frequenting the uplands around here.. no doubt these social birds are crossing paths with one another along the way!
As for Spey, well he’s breaking the mould and is currently spending his third month down in Perthshire (with trips to Yorkshire in between), more lately touring uplands to the north of Crieff which includes forays around the Loch Turret Reservoir. Each of our five remaining tagged birds currently appear to be pretty content ranging about within a specific area - whilst these areas are all outwith the Black Isle, all birds aren’t dispersing away from their chosen playgrounds yet but we’ll keep monitoring and let you know if and when they start moving on!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed Arrow, Phoenix and Swooper Trooper updates
Friday, 16 July 2010
It is now just over a year since our juvenile red kites were fitted with their rucksacks, these holding in place a 22 gram solar powered satellite tag to their backs. Since then we’ve been able to follow the progress of these rare birds from their very first moments of fledging right up until their 1st birthdays. This hasnt been without drama and tragedy at times but also with some rather exciting glimpses into the wanderings of these highly exploratory youngsters! Some of our birds have made it to parts of Ireland and England aswell as touring the four corners of their home country. As we embark on their second years of independence, we can expect even more adventures since red kites don’t usually settle down at a nest of their own until 2 or 3 years of age. They will shortly be joined by this year’s young who are nearing fledging age and will have their own stories to tell a year from now!
For the moment a quick update on some of our current tagged birds.. Red Arrow (Beauly PS) is still making a temporary home within the Findhorn valley around Corrievorrie, content to roam about the surrounding upland areas during the day. Golden eagles may also be spotted in this area although are likely to be tucked away even further up the valley - these two birds of prey are not usual neighbours but from accounts, its pretty likely that our Red Arrow would be the first to turn on heel if they ever came head to head!
Phoenix is also sticking to his regular commuting trip from the Black Isle, down to uplands to the East and South East of Daviot - the poor weather recently certainly hasnt been damping this daily routine! Another bird that we have tracked to this area is Swooper Trooper whose last GPS position came through on the 3rd July on uplands to the East of Daviot also. Since then we haven’t received anymore GPS from Swooper’s tag although the previous data did reveal that the tag’s battery voltage was quite low - not really surprising taking into account the gloomy weather of late! Some secondary data that has dribbled through since then seems to suggest this bird is still in the general area however we will have to wait for the tag to regain a bit more power before we can be more accurate on Swooper Trooper’s latest position.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRodenticide warning
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Further setbacks to our local population of red kites now with the devastating news that 8 young from this year, representing three different nest sites in and around the Black Isle have died following secondary poisoning by rodenticides (rat poison). All chicks involved displayed classic symptoms of poisoning by anticoagulant rat poisons including bleeding from the beak and feather bases. These toxic compounds work by causing severe internal bleeding through the inhibition of blood clotting factors - this is of particular danger to chicks and other young animals whose blood circulations are already working overtime, constantly supplying fast growing parts of their bodies with nutrients.
What was most likely to have happened here is that adult birds had scavenged dead rats from surrounding farmland which had themselves been killed through rodenticide use before feeding them to their growing chicks. This is devastating news as these 8 birds represent 10% of the total number of young produced on the Black Isle this year. The red kite’s predominantly scavenging lifestyle does unfortunately lend these birds to being particularly vulnerable to the use of poisons in our countryside. Anyone using rodenticides in both urban and rural areas are required to be extremely vigilant when doing so to ensure poisons do not enter the food chain beyond the target animal, affecting already rare and vulnerable wildlife but also potentially having disastrous effects on pets aswell as humans in surrounding areas.
As with everything, prevention is better than cure and it is far better to stop rats getting into properties in the first place without the need to use lethal poisons. Precautions include cleaning up split foodstuffs in and around buildings and proofing buildings to prevent rodent access. If a rat infestation occurs then a programme of trapping should be carried out as a first option however the use of more toxic rodenticide poisons may well end up being necessary as a last resort. If you or anyone you know would like to find out more information about the efficient and responsible use of poisons then please contact us via the project website .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and we can forward on a free leaflet entitled ‘Rat poison and the threat to wildlife’. If you frequently spot red kites foraging around your property in the summer months then this information may be particularly relevant to you.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentCommuting kite!
Wednesday, 07 July 2010
For well over a month now, one of our tagged birds, Phoenix (identified by the letter F on our map) has been undertaking a regular commute between the Black Isle and the area south of Inverness including Daviot (home of his adoptive school!) and uplands to the east and south east of here. You’ll see that his kite trail on the map, the representation of his travels, has been ping ponging between these two distinct areas for a number of weeks now. This particular ‘corridor’ from the southern edge of the Black Isle crossing the Moray Firth by Inverness and up and over the Culloden moor has been noticed before to be somewhat of a ‘kite highway’, a route which gives young birds a chance to explore and roam the southern outskirts of the city and beyond. Phoenix usually prefers to start his daily routine fresh and early in the morning from the Black Isle itself having roosted the night before at a favourite spot. On occasion he seems to pitch up of an evening in woodland south of Inverness itself - seemingly knacked after a busy day of wandering around these parts! He’s definately building up a good memory bank of the area and this will certainly serve the kite well once winter comes around again, a time when these birds often have to forage far and wide to find food and keep in tip top shape.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentFarewell to Tweety Pie
Wednesday, 07 July 2010
Before p7 pupils at Aviemore Primary School departed for the school holidays, Amber and Lauren wrote a piece in tribute to their adopted kite Tweety Pie who sadly died following a collision with a wind turbine:
“A Sad Farewell To Tweety Pie
On the 19th of August 2009 P7 pupils of Aviemore Primary adopted one of the best red kites in Scotland. She had been spotted in the highlands we have also been able to check up on her on the eyes to the sky’s website. We have a special wall about RSPB red kite project in our classroom. Some of the people in our class entered RSPB red kite competition where you had to draw a picture of a red kite. The other’s went up on our wall. It is now been nearly a year since we adopted her but sadly our Tweety Pie has died and we are very sad. So farewell Tweety Pie, from all in p7 at Aviemore Primary.”
Rare trip out of the valley for Red Arrow
Saturday, 03 July 2010
Having spent pretty much all of June (well since the 8th anyway!) fairly static and for the majority of the time holed up within a standing and felled area of woodland to the west of Corrievorrie in the Findhorn valley, we were pleased to catch a more active Red Arrow making a fleeting journey up to the back of Dingwall over the 26th and 27th June. He didnt hang around the market town for long however, since more recent data shows he pinged right back down to the magnetic pull of the valley by midday on the 28th and has remained there ever since (up to the afternoon of the 2nd July). As described in previous postings, this bird isnt exactly touring the length of the Findhorn and seems to be enjoying a particular spot along its course between Dalmigavie lodge and Corrievorrie. It is most likely this area provides a rather tasty and abundant supply of chow for our young kite, most likely in the form of rabbits hence the reluctance to give up on this space for the time being!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentTweety Pie - an update
Thursday, 24 June 2010
We are now able to provide more detail into the death of one of our tagged birds, Tweety Pie, a female red kite who had been adopted by Primary 7 pupils at Aviemore Primary School. Sadly, this bird was found dead at the Fairburn windfarm near Dingwall on the Black Isle and taken immediately to the Scottish Agricultural College to establish cause of death. Vets here looked carefully at the body and noted that the bird suffered bruising and fractures that were consistent to it having died following an impact. This information together with the location in which Tweety Pie was found suggests that she was most likely to have been killed following collision with one of the wind turbines. It is really unfortunate to lose an otherwise healthy and active bird in this way and the pupils were greatly saddened to hear the news, having spent almost a year tracking her moves. Since fledging around the 26th July 2009, Tweety Pie has never ventured far from the western fringes of the Black Isle (at least as far as the satellite tag has showed us!) spending a lot of her time touring the towns of Dingwall, Strathpeffer, Contin, CononBridge, Beauly and Fairburn and all the vacts tracts of countryside in between! This goes to show that whilst some of our juvenile birds are itching to explore lands further away from their natal territories, others are perfectly happy getting to know their homelands intimately. This tragic accident has certainly been upsetting for everyone involved in the project including Aviemore Primary School and of course you avid red kite watchers out there, however this project is ongoing and we promise to keep watch over our remaining tagged red kites as they continue their journeys to becoming adult birds.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed Arrow finds the Findhorn.. and stays there!
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Yes, since around the 8th June we’ve been tracking Red Arrow to a small patch within the beautiful Findhorn valley and he rather seems to like it around there! He’s been roosting predominantly in coniferous wood to the west of Corrievorrie making foraging trips every now and again to the surrounding uplands. It would be fantastic to get any sightings of a red kite down these parts - Red Arrow has a blue left and a pink right wing tag with lower case letter ‘n’ on both for any spotters out there. By the sounds of it, the plentiful population of rabbits around here is keeping him sustained for the time being with our last position from him coming through at 6pm on the 20th. Map to update his most recent moves this evening..
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentMeanwhile, Spey heads to borders
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
After spending much of June so far touring about Perthshire, we recently detected Spey shifting location to the Scottish borders and to countryside close to Hawick (here at 4pm on the 18th). Whether or not he pitched up here for the night or crossed over into Northumberland remains to be seen but with more data due in this lunchtime we should be able to check up on this. Spey has already had a tour of England during the month of May when he travelled as far south as Yorkshire and he is currently the farthest away from the Black Isle of all the tagged juveniles. Come back to see his latest adventures over the next week..
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentTo bring you up to speed..
Thursday, 17 June 2010
The last couple of months have been eventful to say the least for our young kites and sad to say that not all of this particular catch up is full of uplifting news about adventuring kites. Rather, there are currently rigorous enquiries ongoing relating to three of our tagged birds, one of which we know to be dead following a tragic accident and the other two missing, however we have strong reason to believe that these two birds have perished in unusual circumstances. We can confirm that those three birds include Tweety Pie adopted by Aviemore Primary School, Sky adopted by Avoch Primary School and Ruby adopted by Carrbridge Primary School. Any death of a protected and rare species such as the red kite is a very upsetting and significant occurrence and the associated investigations into cause of fatality must be treated with the gravity they deserve. All three schools have been informed of this sad news and are awaiting the outcome of comprehensive investigations involving the police and other organisations to find out what exactly happened to their adoptive birds. It has certainly been a sombre time for us all involved in the project and these instances serve to highlight the vulnerability of our local red kite juveniles as they negotiate their way into adulthood.
Of the remaining kites, we currently have one bird down in Perthshire (Spey, Grantown PS, last position here on the morning of 15th June) and one kite touring the Findhorn valley (Red Arrow, Beauly PS, last position here midday 14th June), with kites Swooper Trooper (Culbokie PS), Lewis (Farr PS) and Phoenix (Daviot PS) remaining closer to home, all flitting between the Black Isle and positions to the east and south of Daviot further down the A9 (all to 15th June). The map will be updated in accordance tomorrow.
From West Kilbride to Newtonmore - travels of Red Arrow
Saturday, 29 May 2010
After spending much of May travelling locally around Dingwall and Muir of Ord, one of our tagged kites has recently travelled as far south as Ayrshire and appears to have settled for the time being closer to home around the Newtonmore area. Red Arrow (Kite C of Beauly PS) first set off for the south west of Scotland on the 23rd May travelling down the east side of Loch Ness towards Fort Augustus, onwards through Ballachulish on the 24th before winding up at 6pm on this day to the east of West Kilbride in Ayrshire. By 12pm on the 25th Red Arrow was located on uplands to the north of Tyndrum, 2pm eastwards of the Blackwater Reservoir, 4pm north of Dalwhinnie and then at 6pm on the outskirts of Newtonmore. He has since spent (up until 6pm on the 28th) touring locally around here, journeying slightly west towards Laggan at one point but apparently favouring open ground and woodland to the east and north of Newtonmore itself. Perhaps Red Arrow is recalling this countryside from a previous visit he made round these parts way back in August of last year. This kite was the first of the tagged cohort to venture outside of the Black Isle late summer last year and we were very excited to track him for a good few weeks between Kingussie and Newtonmore shortly before heading back to the Black Isle again on August 24th. This was roughly a week before Red Arrow was discovered by a member of the public by a roadside verge outside of Beauly, completely drenched from a torrential rain shower and too waterlogged to fly! Great to see this bird hasnt had any more mishaps since then and if anyone’s in the Newtonmore area do keep a look out for this fork tailed bird roaming around these parts… last located in a small patch of coniferous woodland just slightly east of the Highland Folk Museum on Main Street!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentSwooper Trooper tours Scotland’s east
Saturday, 29 May 2010
Swooper Trooper (kite E, Culbokie PS) has also made a late May trip, this time heading in the opposite direction to Red Arrow and cruising down the east coast of Scotland before making her way back up towards the Black Isle. Commuters on the Kessock bridge may have spotted this bird over the Longman roundabout at 8am on the 18th May as she set out south to uplands east of Daviot, progressing to the north of Grantown and exploring around this area until a trip south to Aviemore, located here 2pm on the 21st. The next day heralded a trip east in the afternoon to Banchory before turning south, passing directly above Forfar before reaching Dundee by 6pm. On the 23rd, Swooper Trooper entered the Kingdom of Fife, popping up at 4pm to the east of Alloa before touring around Kirkcaldy and Burntisland by 6pm. More explorations around Fife were made in the morning of the 24th before this bird turned northbound again, skirting around Perth and drifting once more easterly, crossing uplands around Braemar at 4 and 6pm. By 6pm on the 25th she was back on the Black Isle! Here she remained until the 28th when she made a trip south to uplands north east of Tomatin before once again seemingly venturing towards her birthplace with a position at 4pm, drifting past the Bogbain heritage farm to the south of Inverness.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentBack to Scotland for Spey
Saturday, 29 May 2010
After spending much of May in Yorkshire, Spey decided to head back to his home country on the 22nd May, travelling up on this day via Edinburgh, Linlithgow, Stirling and Dunblane to rest to the west of Crieff by 6pm. Spey has since halted his travels in this area and instead of heading back north to the Black Isle, appears to be familiarising himself with the landscapes to the north of Doune, an area already famed for its red kites! These magnificent birds were reintroduced around these parts back in 1996 and it appears that after paying a visit to his English cousins, Spey may now be mingling with his central Scottish counterparts.. such social birds! We have yet to locate Spey to the famous Argaty red kite feeding station however this site isn’t too far away from his current wanderings so keep a look out for his tell tale north Scottish left blue wing tag amongst the red of the central Scottish kites!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentBlack Isle kite over Leeds!
Friday, 07 May 2010
‘Kite-eyed’ observers of the map will have noticed we have another one of these birds breaking its usual home ranging pattern of late.. Spey the red kite adopted by Grantown Primary is currently living it up on the outskirts of Leeds where he is in the midst of a whole new set of these birds!
We first spotted Spey heading south from the Black Isle on the 3rd of May when by 12pm he had made his way to Comrie in Perthshire after starting off close by Loch Ashie to the E of Loch Ness at 8am. By 2pm he had negotiated the big city of Glasgow and by 8am on the 4th May was close to Castle Douglas in Dumfries and Galloway, possibly saluting fellow red kites which were reintroduced to this part of Scotland in 2001. Doesnt look like he stopped for lunch at the local Bellymack Hill Farm feeding station however as he was recorded at 12pm along the M6 to the NE of Kendal, by 2pm west of Lancaster close to Bowland Forest in the Yorkshire Dales. By late afternoon, further progression SE was made to Bradford and Halifax and at 6pm he was recorded roosting in woodland to the south west of Keighley. More recent positions on the 5th and 6th May have placed Spey touring Shipley, Leeds and open farmland around Eccup to the north of this city. Interestingly, Spey’s last positions around this area are very close to the site of Harewood House, N of the Eccup Reservoir where red kites were reintroduced back in 1999. The sight of Spey’s distinctive blue left wing tag, giving away his highland heritage will surely stand out amongst the more usual orange left wing tags of red kites native to these parts! Without doubt Spey is coming across the successful population of kites down here and it will be interesting to see if he hangs around in their company over the next wee while!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRounding up April with some individual updates - turn of Tweety Pie
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Its been a busy month for adult red kites with most established breeding pairs firmly into the swing of the breeding season. We expect at this point that successful pairs are sitting on eggs (or at least the females are!) with males busily attending to their partners increased appetite’s during this energetically expensive time. Adult pairs won’t travel too far away from their established nesting territories at this point but in another few weeks as chicks begin to hatch, food will be in high demand causing both adults to take turn about venturing further away to obtain a variety of foodstuffs for their continuing growth and survival.
In the meantime our juvenile kites are certainly making up for the relatively low-key adults. In the beginning of April, Tweety Pie (Aviemore Primary) had been spending most of her time around the Marybank area with frequent travels to the south of Muir of Ord and north to Jamestown. Unfortunately, in the latter half of the month things have since gone a bit quiet from this kite and we have received no further updates from Tweety Pie’s tag since her last known position on the 15th April at 12pm - GPS placing her just to the west of Kilcoy. This position followed previous evening and morning explorations around nearby Newton of Ferintosh. Bit of a strange drop off the radar for Tweety Pie and we have since gone out on foot to check her last known GPS to see if we could spot her around but to no avail. Looking at the positives, we saw from the data that up until her last known point she was travelling about seemingly without any problems and this issue could well be due to tag complications which we have experienced in the past - we have still not heard anything from Merkinch’s kite Red Rocket since last November. In both cases, both birds appeared to be flying around without any problems prior to the absence of positional information from their tags. It looks like for both of these birds for the time being we will have to keep a keen look out for their distinctive wing tag colours and combinations. Both have a left blue and a right pink wing tag - on top of this, Red Rocket has a red spot and Tweety Pie has lower case letter ‘s’. We will let you know if we pick up any new signals from Tweety Pie in the next couple of weeks.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentKITES - THE ROYAL CONNECTION
Thursday, 29 April 2010
April 2010 proved to be a very interesting month for the interactions between the Red Kites, with a number of the group feeling their royal roots – in the 15th Century, a Royal Decree in England and Wales protected Red Kites, because they are so good at cleaning up the environment. Our 21st Century Red Kites are not yet protected in Scotland in this manner, but there must be some link with royalty as most of them met up at Tulloch Castle, near Dingwall this month. In addition, the Irish Wanderer, Lewis, has returned home to the Black Isle after an incredible epic journey to the Emerald Isle.
Sky, who was adopted by Avoch Primary School, has mainly been roaming about the Black Isle for most of the beginning of April. She even found time to drop in to Avoch itself several times, possibly to visit her adoptive school. About halfway through April, Sky obviously felt a strong connection to royalty, as she paid a visit to Tulloch Castle and then made it a regular on her travels for the remainder of April! Look out for Sky, with her distinctive yellow cross wing tags if you are visiting the Castle.
Beauly Primary School’s male Kite, Red Arrow may have followed Sky’s lead as he too has visited Tulloch Castle on many occasions during April. Perhaps the two of them set the trend for the other Kites to follow, as you’ll find out later. Red Arrow also flew over the new RSPB Feeding Station in Tollie several times this month. It could be that he intends to make it a regular stop-off point on his journeys in the future. Keep a look out for more information on Tollie Feeding Station as things develop.
Swooper Trooper, a female kite adopted by Culbokie Primary School and Phoenix, the male Kite adopted by Daviot Primary School, have been comparatively quiet, staying close to their stomping grounds for the vast majority of April, Swooper in the Muir of Ord and Phoenix on the Black Isle and South of Inverness. However… in a break from their usual travels, they both decided to visit Tulloch Castle! Swooper and Phoenix would have undoubtedly encountered the other Kites visiting there. Perhaps Red Kites got in free that day…
In a shocking turn of events, we bring you the story of one Kite that did not visit Tulloch Castle! Ruby, Carrbridge Primary School’s female Kite, spent most of April soaking in the sights near beautiful Loch Dochfour. In the past, Ruby has almost exclusively stuck to this area and the Black Isle. However, curiosity seems to have gotten the better of her as she spread her wings (excuse the pun) and flew on an odyssey of sorts. She flew south to Blair Atholl, in Perthshire, then the next day went North East to Tayside, stopping off at Kirriemuir (near Forfar) and continued North East to Laurencekirk (near Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire), possibly to stop off by the Bervie Chipper for sustenance! It’s possible that Ruby was contacting another colony of Kites that roost and travel in Aberdeenshire.
From Laurencekirk, Ruby went North West, visiting Insch, (between Huntly and Inverurie in Aberdeenshire) and made her way back to the Black Isle in short order. We thought that after her huge journey, she might not be keen to travel for a while, but after a short rest, she flew south as far as Tomatin and spent some time near Loch Ness on the shore opposite Urquhart Castle at almost the same time the other Kites were visiting Tulloch Castle! At the end of April, Ruby was taking a well-deserved rest after her journeys and it will be interesting to see where she visits next.
Spey, Grantown Primary’s male Kite, in the distant past has visited Dundee, but when he returned, he has tended to stick close to his favourite places on the Black Isle and Muir of Ord direction. However, he was spotted flying south of Inverness, near Culduthel, so perhaps he too is gearing up to explore a bit more of Scotland.
By the 21st April,Lewis, Farr Primary School’s male Kite safely returned to Strathcarron after his massive journey from the Black Isle down to Ballyshannon,Co. Donegal, Ireland. It appears that he made his way back to Scotland by stopping by a number of Whiskey Distilleries on the West Coast! If you would like to duplicate Lewis’ route, visit Bruichladdich (on the Isle of Islay, where there are a host of distilleries), the Isle of Jura, Oban, Ben Nevis and Mallaig Distilleries and raise a glass to our Lewis. However, after a short rest, Lewis was on his travels yet again and stopped by… yes, you have guessed it! Tulloch Castle, meeting up with the rest of the Highland Kites! Perhaps the Kites were celebrating his amazing journey, or else receiving their duty free. Either way, it was an incredible achievement and it’s been interesting and exciting to keep track of his journey.
Meanwhile, in our office…
Our Red Kite Information Officer, Claire Buchanan, is hard at work with the RSPB Tollie Feeding Station – she has spent a lot of time liaising with the local estate and getting things ready for the opening. Claire is also in the middle of creating a “Red Kite Repertory Company”, polishing up a presentation for the local community on the abilities of these birds and the choices they can make to watch out for their wildlife, so we know that will be enjoyable and interesting.
I think you’ll agree April was very interesting. I wonder what May will bring?
Ash poses no flight restrictions for kites as Lewis cruises to Ireland and back!
Friday, 23 April 2010
Yes, in the past week we tracked one of the tagged kites all the way to the Republic of Ireland and back again. Lewis, a male red kite adopted by Farr Primary and adorned with a fitting green stripe on his wing tags, set off for the emerald island back on the 11th April when he began making progress south from his natal Black Isle through Lochaber and Argyll, making it to just south of Campbeltown by 7pm on the 12th. You may recall another of our kites, Phoenix, making a very similar journey way back in October last year! Lewis steamed on across the north channel and by 10am on the 13th April was over Northern Ireland, just to the east of Ballymoney, rolling onto to the Republic border just west of Enniskillen by 6pm same day. The 14th and 15th April were a little more sketchy since the GPS positions coming through were split but the ‘general’ route taken by Lewis on these days was further on south into the Republic and as far down as Connemara in county Galway. Back in October last year, Phoenix stopped at County Donegal so this latest journey is the furthest away we have ever recorded any of the tagged kites. Continuing with Lewis’ journey and on the 16th he appeared to direct himself north once more, through Sligo and passing north east of here close to Strabane on the border. Even further progress was made on the 17th onto the west of Lough Foyle, north east of Londonderry and then by 2pm he popped up on the island of Islay! Such a whistlestop tour of Ireland must have surely meant eating on the hop for our intrepid kite and upon entering our Scottish atmosphere once again, it appears Lewis soon began orientating himself with respect to a very different kind of hop(s) (sorry!), appearing to tour several leading whisky areas on the west coast. First of all of course there was Islay.. then Jura 5pm same day.. then it was onto Oban via the island of Luing at midday on the 18th April on through FortWilliam, at 10am on the 19th popping up near Mallaig later this day before finally winding up further north from here by Loch Dughaill to the north east of Strathcarron in Wester Ross by the afternoon of the 20th. Phew! Lewis was last recorded in this area at 2pm on the 21st apparently resting it up in a small woodland by the loch perhaps contemplating his travels, even clearing the fuzz from all that flying through whisky clouds. Just goes to show these seemingly ‘home’ birds do simply take the notion to one day slip away, flying at sometimes extraordinarly fast paces across all sorts of landscapes and seas even to other countries.. very typical dispersal behaviour with the sole purpose of checking out what lies beyond familiar scenes. But it’s also similarly interesting to see these birds time and again boomeranging back to their home patches. But maybe Lewis will surprise us once more and take off on another travel once he’s limbered up - I guess you can never really predict what wild birds will do!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentThe month that was March
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Sorry it’s been a long time since a blog update.. final preparations to the feeding station up at Tollie on the Brahan Estate are in full swing and we are hoping to install signs and start welcoming visitors very soon.. lots of people on tenderhooks awaiting news of this exciting destination - not long now, stay tuned for the green light to come and see us up there!
The main news from the satellite tags is that we have still to make contact with Red Rocket (Merkinch) and it looks increasingly like we will have to rely upon actual sightings of this female distinguished by a left blue wing tag and a right pink wing tag, each with a red spot on it. There are all sorts of possibilities as to the fate of this bird - the most desired outcome of course is that she’s fit and flying and gaining her independance happily, learning along the way as youngsters do. We hope that her disappearance off our radars is more to do with a faulty satellite tag, annoying as this may be, its certainly not as bad as a potential problem with the bird herself. Merkinch Primary were visited before the Easter holidays to be kept up to speed with the news on Red Rocket, needless to say, all very much hoping that there will be a sighting of her in the not too distant future.
As to the rest, in short all still basing themselves on the Black Isle and immediate countryside: Tweety Pie (Aviemore) and Red Arrow (Beauly) preferring the area surrounding Contin, making the most of their time here patrolling the open fields around Brahan and Loch Ussie and uplands to the west of Fairburn. Hoping to make these two amongst the first of our visitors to the feeding station!
Sky (Avoch), Ruby (Carrbridge), Swooper Trooper (Culbokie), Phoenix (Daviot), Lewis (Farr) and Spey (Grantown) all mainly residing to the south eastern part of the Black Isle. Of particular interest, three of these kites have been day tripping a bit further afield of late.. Ruby has been repeatedly exploring to the south and south west of here, ranging through the western side of Inverness to uplands west of Dochfour then up to Beauly and west of Muir of Ord - previous to that, journeying to the east of Loch Ness down to Loch Duntelchaig and back again…. earlier in March, Swooper Trooper chose to direct herself north instead, ping ponging between Munlochy bay and Fortrose then Cromarty before crossing the entrance to the Beauly Firth to the North Sutor and back again… finally Phoenix has been ranging to the south west of the Black Isle, spending many successive days crossing the Moray Firth to spend daylight hours on uplands to the east of Daviot, just north of Moy further down the A9. This is a destination we saw a few of the kites end up at in late Autumn last year, so its certainly interesting to see a sort of red kite route or highway forming between the Black Isle and here.
That’s it for the moment. Due to give another blog update at the start of next week but keep checking the maps for more regular positional updates. Thanks for visiting.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentCatch up!
Monday, 15 March 2010
Quite a lot to update you on this time - apologies for the absence of blogging of late - spending a lot of time working up at the feeding station site getting it all prepared.. kites are slowly but surely beginning to take an interest in our daily offerings up there and we hope its not too long before we can provide you with fantastic close up views of these wonderful birds.
Back to the tags and lets start from the top.. Tweety Pie (Aviemore) still centring her movements around the Fairburn patch up until the 10th March. Infact, we tracked her to the field adjacent to the feeding station in the vicinity of Loch Ussie at 10am on the 8th March so seems pretty certain she is one of the first red kites to pick up on this opportunity!
Sky (Avoch) is another kite staying faithful to a particular spot as she is still enjoying wanderings around the Drumsmittal area of the Black Isle up until the 13th March..
Red Arrow (Beauly) similar to Tweety Pie, is roaming around the Fairburn area to the north west of Muir of Ord..
Ruby (Carrbridge) had an interesting flight down to Loch Duntelchaig via Dochfour on the 6th March before flying back to the Drumsmittal area, spending the 10th March in the Loch Ussie area (possibly also attracted by the feeding potential there!) and then back to Drumsmittal for the 13th..
Swooper Trooper (Culbokie Primary) has been an active kite, ping ponging between Cromarty/Nigg areas and Munlochy bay between the 7th and 13th March, most recently spotted resting up in woodland close to Jemimaville..
Likewise, Phoenix (Daviot Primary) has also been flying back and forth between two spots, the south side of the Black Isle, south of Munlochy bay and further down the A9 towards Moy with frequent rests in uplands to the east of Daviot - very close to his adoptive school! Last tracked back on the Black Isle by 7pm on the 12th..
Sticking closer to home, Lewis (Farr Primary) isn’t making significant moves away from the Munlochy Bay area, and was last spotted on its north side exploring the open fields and woodland surrounding the shores here.. similarly Spey (Grantown Primary) is still ranging in a very small area between Bogallan and Drumsmittal, last tracked on the 7th March.
Unfortunately we have yet to make contact with Red Rocket (Merkinch Primary). Given the lovely bright days of late we had anticipated that we would have got information through from her tag by now and it seems strange why we havent yet. We are at a loss to know for sure what exactly has happened to the tag and where Red Rocket exactly is and will have to rely upon live sightings of this bird to answer these questions.. it may be her tag has simply fallen off or been particularly faulty and not survived the winter’s dark.. Red Rocket has a red spot on both her wing tags (blue left and pink right) which makes her quite distinctive and we would welcome anyone who thinks they may have spotted her winging her way around!
Some news on Heather (Dingwall Primary) who is not showed on map.. her tag appeared to power back up on the 1st March and slowly started providing us with GPS from the 2nd to the 7th March so we know that she is roughly in the area of Farr to the south of Inverness. More recent data through from her tag has been a little sketchy however but we hope the tag will get properly up and running in the week to come.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentSunday data and admission of map error!
Tuesday, 02 March 2010
We received a bumper package from 7 tags on Sunday. As follows…
Sky (Avoch) still happily roaming open ground and scrub areas between Munlochy Bay and Drumsmittal areas - occasionally resting up in stands of coniferous woodland… Ruby (Carrbridge) ranging a bit more widely starting off further east by Contin on the 18th then across to Drumsmittal, in woodlands to the west of Muir of Ord on the 21st up to Jamestown on the 22nd then back down to the north east of Beauly on the 23rd and 24th, across to Munlochy Bay again before arriving back at Marybank on the 27th (phew!)... despite Swooper Trooper (Culbokie) showing on the map over the North Sea and halfway to Scandinavia (!) this is infact an input error which should be rectified by this evening (I forgot to hit the minus on the longitude!). Otherwise this female has been spending most of her time between Contin and Maryburgh between the 18th and 26th with a short trip west to low ground past Loch Achilty on the 22nd…. Lewis (Farr) still ranging in close proximity to Ruby between Munlochy bay and Drumsmittal… we also have information on kite A (not shown on map and currently not adopted by a local school) who between the 18th and 27th Februrary has been spending most of her time to the east of Loch Ness by Loch Ruthven, Torness, Inverfarigaig and uplands to the west of Dunmaglass. We made contact with two other birds on this day, Red Arrow (Beauly) and Phoenix (Daviot) but unfortunately no more updates on positions. Some more information to follow..
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentThis week’s latest
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Just a quick update now on the movements of most of our tagged kites since Saturday. Tweety Pie (Aviemore) has largely centred her travels close to Fairburn in Ross-shire with small excursions nearby in the Contin and Jamestown areas… similarly we received a couple of positions on Red Arrow (Beauly) who appeared to be in much the same area zipping between Contin and Muirton mains and we actually have a live sighting of this male dated Sunday 21st February close to Fairburn with his mother and father thought to be in close proximity!... Ruby (Carrbridge) has been making wider movements of late starting nearby to the previous two close to Contin between the 16-18th February, moving East to the Drumsmittal and North Kessock areas then landing back West of Muir of Ord on the 22nd Feb.. Swooper Trooper (Culbokie) revisited the Strathrusdale area on the 15th before winding back close to Contin between the 16-19th Feb then exploring the Brahan Estate, Culbokie before landing back near Contin on the 22nd.. rounding up, Phoenix (Daviot), Lewis (Farr) and Spey (Grantown) spent between the 15-22nd in much the same area, right on the Black Isle skirting between Drumsmittal and Munlochy bay.
We are still awaiting news of Red Rocket (Merkinch) and Heather (Dingwall - but not on map!).
Of the kites we know about it appears there are two quite distinct camps forming, one centred around the Fairburn/Contin area and the other between Drumsmittal and Munlochy Bay. Juveniles often seek each other out particularly during the winter months and the formation of such bonds can be crucial in all sorts of ways - finding food together, indulging in play to strengthen life important skills and of course perfecting courtship for the future. Whilst many adult pairs are beginning to move away from communal winter roosts and onto traditional nest sites, this sort of mature behaviour couldnt be further from the minds of these youngsters who will remain fairly ‘talon-loose and fancy free’ for the time being!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentNews from Tweety Pie!
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Back on the 12th February we were very relieved to make contact for the first time this year with red kite Tweety Pie (Aviemore Primary), especially since her last known position was way back on the 19th October! This batch of data wasnt fantastic in that it contained a lot of low voltage battery in place of the usual GPS positions but we were able to tentatively place Tweety Pie on the 2nd February on Brahan Estate land very close to the Black Isle. Seems like Tweety Pie’s tag still needs a bit of re-booting since another, far less accurate, position also came through for the next day placing this bird thousands of miles away from here over on the Alaskan/Canadian border!! Safe to say this was pretty unlikely though, especially as this position was accompanied by very low battery voltage on the tag and I guess in these early days of re-contact we might have to be a bit wary of such exaggerated positions as the tags get back to normal! But the fantastic weather today will do wonders and we remain hopeful that we will get a bit more detail through for next week.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a comment10/12 kites accounted for - 2 tags remain elusive!
Saturday, 20 February 2010
After that quick round up of news we can let you know that the majority of tagged kites have popped back up on our radar in the past few weeks after the dark winter months, all seeming to be pretty close to the Black Isle, so no significant dispersal movements to detail as yet… we are seeing a fair few of these youngsters patrolling about in very similar airspace and its quite possible these individuals are perhaps roosting together at one site, in doing so learning precious life skills together through the act of play.
We still have two kites out there both of which we havent had any data through from since the 22nd November 2009. First of all we have Heather, the female kite Dingwall Primary School are now championing after their first, Hector suffered an unfortunate demise after being struck by a vehicle back in September. We tracked her last moving about in the Muir of Ord area. (Please note, Heather movements are not currently on the website map). Then we have Red Rocket, the female kite that pupils of Merkinch Primary in Inverness adopted. Her last known position was back on this date to the east of Ardross in Easter Ross after exploring the Caithness coast at Berriedale. Its very possible that the tags on these birds will make contact in the same way that the others have done in recent days/weeks so for the time being we arent too worried about this although, the sooner we start getting data in the sooner we’ll know that both are safe and sound and trackable once again! We’ll let you know as soon as we find out. After that quick round up of news we can let you know that the majority of tagged kites have popped back up on our radar in the past few weeks after the dark winter months, all seeming to be pretty close to the Black Isle, so no significant dispersal movements to detail as yet… we are seeing a fair few of these youngsters patrolling about in very similar airspace and its quite possible these individuals are perhaps roosting together at one site, in doing so learning precious life skills together through the act of play.
We still have two kites out there both of which we havent had any data through from since the 22nd November 2009. First of all we have Heather, the female kite Dingwall Primary School are now championing after their first, Hector suffered an unfortunate demise after being struck by a vehicle back in September. We tracked her last moving about in the Muir of Ord area. (Please note, Heather movements are not currently on the website map). Then we have Red Rocket, the female kite that pupils of Merkinch Primary in Inverness adopted. Her last known position was back on this date to the east of Ardross in Easter Ross after exploring the Caithness coast at Berriedale. Its very possible that the tags on these birds will make contact in the same way that the others have done in recent days/weeks so for the time being we arent too worried about this although, the sooner we start getting data in the sooner we’ll know that both are safe and sound and trackable once again! We’ll let you know as soon as we find out.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentAnd there’s more!
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Yes, pleased to announce first contact of 2010 with Lewis (Farr Primary), a male kite we last tracked way back on the 10th November. On the 14th of this month we received a run of data from his tag which placed him between the 10th and 13th roaming between Kilmuir, Munlochy bay and Drumsmittal. Great to see he appears fit and healthy and quite happily sticking close to home like all the other kites!
One final update from Phoenix (Daviot Primary), a male we have heard a little from this year already and who appears to be crossing paths with Lewis, ranging between the 29th January to most recently the 13th February around Munlochy Bay and Drumsmittal.
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentSpey making contact..
Saturday, 20 February 2010
News of yet another bird and the sat tag on Spey’s back has started to warm up again since we last heard from him back on the 14th November. On the 17th February we received a run of data from this tag, mostly unusable since instead of positions it kept giving us messages that the tag was running low on voltage. We did get through one position placing Spey in the ‘general’ area of Bogallan so we are pretty confident that this bird is also staying fairly close to home for the time being. Again, these tags all seem to need a big boost of sunlight over the next week to reach their optimum transmitting potential but we have seen from others that once they receive this they generally appear to be getting back on track as it were!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRed Arrow back on the radar
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
A welcome update now from Red Arrow (Beauly Primary). It’s been a long time since we last tracked him way back on the 18th October! But vital signs are good as on the 15th February we received a little package from Red Arrow’s tag from which we could place him on the 10th and 12th close to Contin then just to the north east of Marybank on the 13th. Still no exciting travels to report but the main thing is that we are once again able to follow where these youngsters are spending these winter months!
0 Comment(s) | Read and submit a commentRoaming Ruby
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
She’s still pretty close to home but Ruby (Carrbridge Primary) has been covering quite a lot of ground of late spending between the 2nd and 6th February visiting Beauly, Kilmuir, Fairburn and Strathpeffer areas. Between the 11th and 14th February she was tracked exploring the uplands that lie to the West of Muir of Ord. Great to see her so active and to be able to chart her progress from one day to the next rather than relying on occasional weekly fixes!
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