Northern Ireland Red Kites - Friends of Red Kites in … update - Summer 2013.pdf · Phase II of...

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Big news coming from County Down this spring was that, for the first time, a red kite which has been born and reared here has been confirmed breeding. Although red kites have bred successfully in Northern Ireland since 2010, up until now, all breeding birds have been from the 80 wild- born kites which were brought over from Wales and reintroduced between 2008 and 2010. It hasn’t been until this year, when Brown / White 34 was found to have bred at a site on the southern edges of the Mournes, that this milestone has been confirmed. Even better news was that his mate, Pale blue / White Z, is a bird which had originally been released in Wicklow as part of the reintroduction by our project partner, the Golden Eagle Trust. It was great to finally nab one of their birds! Back at the start of March, it appeared as though White Z had paired up with a different male, Blue 25, and the two were holding a territory in a wooded valley near Rostrevor. Following the “big snow”, however, it emerged that White 34 was the preferred mate of choice and on 9 April, I saw White Z dropping into a newly constructed nest in a large oak tree. She was first recorded sitting ten days later on 19 April, although a third bird, which turned out to be Blue 25, continued to reside in the same valley. The continued presence of Blue 25 within their territory caused a bit of a nuisance for White Z and White 34 and the two were regularly recorded leaving the nest unattended to chase him off when he got too close. By the end of May, the pair were spending longer and longer off the nest and by the start of June they appeared to have abandoned their breeding attempt altogether. In early June, knowing they had abandoned, I accessed the nest to see if there was any sign of eggs or evidence of why they may have given up. As I reached the nest and peered over the side, I was delighted to discover they had, at least, managed to lay a single egg. The pair built a fantastic, text-book kite nest, lined with wool and constructed in the fork of the tree. It’s not uncommon for birds of prey to fail at their first breeding attempt, perhaps due to a mix of inexperience and youthful exuberance. The fact they managed to get to the egg stage means I have big hopes for them next year and that 2014 will bring them more success. NORTHERN IRISH-REARED KITE BREEDS FOR FIRST TIME Northern Ireland Red Kites Pale blue / White Z © VF Brown / Blue 25 © VF Northern Ireland Red Kites is the first species reintroduction in Northern Ireland and part of an All-Ireland project to bring back these wonderful birds to our shores. Project partners are the Welsh Kite Trust, the Golden Eagle Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Summer 2013

Transcript of Northern Ireland Red Kites - Friends of Red Kites in … update - Summer 2013.pdf · Phase II of...

Big news coming from County Down this spring was that, for the first time, a red kite which has been born and reared here has been confirmed breeding.

Although red kites have bred successfully in Northern Ireland since 2010, up until now, all breeding birds have been from the 80 wild-born kites which were brought over from Wales and reintroduced between 2008 and 2010.

It hasn’t been until this year, when Brown / White 34 was found to have bred at a site on the southern edges of the Mournes, that this milestone has been confirmed.

Even better news was that his mate, Pale blue / White Z, is a bird which had originally been released in Wicklow as part of the reintroduction by our project partner, the Golden Eagle Trust. It was great to finally nab one of their birds!

Back at the start of March, it appeared as though White Z had paired up with a different male, Blue 25, and the two were holding a territory in a wooded valley near Rostrevor.

Following the “big snow”, however, it emerged that White 34 was the preferred mate of choice and on 9 April, I saw White Z dropping into a newly constructed nest in a large oak tree.

She was first recorded sitting ten days later on 19 April, although a third bird, which turned out to be Blue 25, continued to reside in the same valley.

The continued presence of Blue 25 within their territory caused a bit of a nuisance for White Z and White 34 and the two were regularly recorded leaving the nest unattended to chase him off when he got too close.

By the end of May, the pair were spending longer and longer off the nest and by the start of June they appeared to have abandoned their breeding attempt altogether.

In early June, knowing they had abandoned, I accessed the nest to see if there was any sign of eggs or evidence of why they may have given up.

As I reached the nest and peered over the side, I was delighted to discover they had, at least, managed to lay a single egg.

The pair built a fantastic, text-book kite nest, lined with wool and constructed in the fork of the tree. It’s not uncommon for birds of prey to fail at their first breeding attempt, perhaps due to a mix of inexperience and youthful exuberance. The fact they managed to get to the egg stage means I have big hopes for them next year and that 2014 will bring them more success.

NORTHERN IRISH-REARED KITE BREEDS FOR FIRST TIME

Northern Ireland Red Kites

Pale blue / White Z © VF

Brown / Blue 25 © VF

Northern Ireland Red Kites is the first species reintroduction in Northern Ireland and part of an All-Ireland project to bring back these wonderful

birds to our shores.

Project partners are the Welsh Kite Trust, the Golden Eagle Trust and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Summer 2013

Five kites found dead

Sadly, since January this year, we have recovered five dead red kites in Counties

Antrim and Down. Three of the birds were breeding adults and were all located

within a small geographical area of the same valley near Castlewellan. Two of

these were males which had successfully bred in previous years and the third was

a female, recovered dead on her nest during routine nest visits to monitor

productivity and ring and wing-tag chicks.

The other two birds were juveniles with Red 56 being recovered near Rathfriland in

early April and Yellow 1D being found by hillwalkers near Larne in Co. Antrim in

mid-August. In a cruel twist, Yellow 1D was the offspring of Blue 12, one of the

adults found near Castlewellan, meaning that not only have we lost a successful

breeding male we have also lost a potential future breeding bird.

These deaths represent approximately 30% of the known breeding population of

red kites in Northern Ireland and is a devastating blow to Northern Ireland Red Kites. Having gone two years with no

recorded incidents, this rise in deaths is very worrying, especially the concentration of incidents near Castlewellan

and we are working closely with PSNI to establish what has happened and

prevent any further cases such as these.

Emma Meredith, PSNI wildlife liaison officer, said “Police take wildlife crime

seriously and if it is found that there is a breach in the legislation then they

will investigate.

“Currently police have requested tests on the birds reported to identify the

cause of death.

“Anyone who suspects a crime and/or has information about the deaths of

the birds is asked to contact the Police Service of Northern Ireland on 0845

600 8000 or anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”

Information on the safe use of rodenticides is available by calling RSPB NI on 028 9049 1547.

First wild WTE chicks in 110 years! Great news from our project partner, the Golden Eagle Trust. Two wild White-tailed Eagle chicks have successfully

fledged in Ireland for the first time in over 110 years.

Three pairs of WTE attempted to breed in Counties Kerry and Clare this year. One pair failed during incubation and

another, which nested in Killarney National Park, hatched at least one chick. Sadly, shortly before it was due to

fledge, the chick died as a result of the nest collapsing, most likely due to the nest material (vegetation, sods and

dead branches) dried out and shrinking during the long, dry spell of weather in July.

The third, and successful pair, nested at Mountshannon in Co. Clare. This is the same pair which made history in

2012 when they nested for the first time, although they failed to hatch chicks during that attempt.

The two chicks are expected to stay around the islands and

western shoreline of Lough Derg, until sometime in the autumn

when they will leave their parents’ territory and begin a 3-4 year

nomadic life before settling on their own separate territories and

attempting to breed themselves.

The Golden Eagle Trust would like to publically acknowledge the

support of scores of individuals, volunteers, landowners, walkers

and boating enthusiasts for their support and protection of territorial

eagles from Galway to Cork, but especially in Mountshannon, Co.

Clare and in Kerry.

Well done to all involved from Northern Ireland Red Kites!

Dead juvenile kite © AMC

Dead adult male kite © AMC

Young WTE prior to release in Killarney National Park © KM

Summary of 2013 breeding season In stark contrast to last spring when we basked in warm, summer-like conditions, this year we experienced an extremely cold spring, with average temperatures for March barely hitting 2.5°C. These conditions were exacerbated by south Down experiencing the heaviest snow fall in living memory; 4 to 6 feet of snow created a white blanket across the countryside and drifts of up to 18 feet were commonplace in ‘Kite Country’ for several weeks. By mid-April, 10 of the 13 pairs from 2012 had been recorded back on their respective territories, with seven using the same nests as last year. Three pairs moved, namely Black I and Black S, relocating back to the nest they used in 2010 and 2011; Pink n and Blue 12 shifting 3km from a nice oak-wood valley to a larch at the edge of Castlewellan Forest Park and Black G and Pink w moving for the third year in a row from the grounds of an old Victorian house to a conifer plantation. Three new nests were located in 2013, with a nest being found north of the Dromara Hills and south of the Mourne Mountains for the first time, expanding the known nesting range north and south by 5km and 14km respectively. The third new pair was found to be nesting right under our noses, less than a kilometre from the original holding pens

in Castlewellan Forest Park! Unfortunately, all three new pairings failed, with the female from the pair near Castlewellan being recovered dead on two eggs. PSNI officers attended the scene and seized the carcass for toxicology, which confirmed the presence of the banned substance, alphachloralose, in the stomach contents. The nests which were ultimately successful were all established pairs from previous years, with three of them being from the pioneering nesting cohort of 2010. Even though the number of successful nests has fallen from ten to seven, thankfully this year the number of chicks per successful nest has increased to 2.0 (2x1, 3x2 and 2x3), which has resulted in a similar number of chicks fledging to last year.

In total, 18 territorial pairs were recorded across Co. Down, with 14 nests being located. Half of these failed and the remaining seven hatched 14 young, all of which were tagged, including the young from a nest which had been unreachable in 2012. The first fledged young were recorded on 8 July, when I saw Yellow 1N and at least one of its siblings taking their first, tentative flights. Although this brood were not the oldest, I suspect having three large chicks in a relatively small nest, in very warm conditions, led to these birds being the first to confront the big, bad world.

Castlewellan Show 2013 On Saturday 13th July, RSPB staff and volunteers made our annual pilgrimage to grounds of Castlewellan Forest Park to attend the Castlewellan Show.

One of the biggest agricultural exhibitions in NI, the Castlewellan Show offers us an excellent opportunity to meet and engage with hundreds of local residents and members of the public and tell them all about the work of the RSPB here, in particular, NI Red Kites.

As with previous years, our stand was well attended with hundreds of people visiting us throughout the day and I was once again delighted with the response and overwhelming support from local landowners and farmers.

Photograph taken under licence © AMC

Photograph taken under licence © ER

Fitting patagial wing-tag to red kite (c) RSPBNI

Talking about red kites (c) RSPBNI

Setting up at Castlewellan Show (c) RSPBNI

If you would like to:

Report a sighting of a red kite

Adopt a red kite

Receive a talk about Northern Ireland Red Kites

Receive further information about the project

Contact:

Adam McClure

Red Kite Officer

RSPB NI, Belvoir Park Forest, Belfast, BT8 7QT

t: 028 9049 1547

m:07702237352

e: [email protected]

© AMC

Phase II of Northern Ireland Red Kites has been made possible through support from Newry and Mourne, Down and Banbridge Councils through the Ulster Wildlife Trust’s

Landfill Community Fund.

Additional support has been received from NIE and RES Ltd.

Funders

Thank you... I would like to take this opportunity to thank Forest Service and all the farmers, landowners and members of the public who have taken the time to report sightings of red kites and permit access to their land for surveying and monitoring red kites. Without your co-operation, support and assistance the project would not be possible.

Thanks must also go to the following schools, businesses and individuals who have helped NI Red Kites by adopting a red kite:

1st Ballyclare Cub Scouts

Annsborough Integrated PS

Anthony Wallace

Antrim Wildlife Explorers

Ballyclare High School

Bangor RSPB Local Group

Carryduff PS

Claire Ferry

Derryclone & District Wildfowling / Con-servation Group

Drumlins Integrated PS, Ballynahinch

Edenderry NS

Elizabeth Law

Fairhill PS, Dromara

Gilford PS

Gleno Young Farmers’ Club

Hayley Sherwin

Holy Trinity College, Cookstown

King’s Park PS, Lurgan

Kyle & Callum McRoberts

Larne Grammar School

Larne RSPB Local Group

Larne VIP Group

Lisburn Watch Group

Methodist College conservation society

Northern Ireland Electricity

Northern Ireland Water

Omagh County PS

Pauline & Aidan

Poyntzpass PS

Rachael Annet

Raloo Boys’ Brigade

RES UK and Ireland

Riverdale PS, Lisburn

Rockmount Day Nursery & Rockmount Den After School Club

Rockport School

Rory McAlinden

Scoil an Droichid

Spa PS

St. Coleman’s PS, Dromore

St. Francis’ PS, Drumaroad

St. Malachy’s PS, Castlewellan

St. Malachy’s PS, Newry

St. Mary’s PS, Annalong

St. Mary’s PS, Dechoment

St. Matthew’s PS, Castlewellan

Tonagh PS, Lisburn

Windsor Hill PS, Newry

If you would like to know more about our ‘adopt-a-kite’ scheme, or are part of a group which would like a talk on Northern Ireland Red Kites, email:

[email protected]