Northern Kites - Update 26/03/07

News

Over 250 people attended kite safaris in mid-March and everybody attending saw kites.  The new kite-branded buses are certainly making a huge visual impact as they drive their route from the centre of Newcastle to Consett, via the Derwent valley.  If you have not had a ride on one yet, why not pop along to the MetroCentre or Eldon Square and catch the kite? Melanie Hills, Access and Education Officer, will be commencing her maternity leave on 2nd April and we are delighted to announce that Julie Chrisp has taken up the post of Educational Information Officer until December of this year to cover Mel's maternity period.

Bird News

Unfortunately, we have recently discovered the remains of another dead bird.  This bird was found in late mid-March, long dead, in the upper Derwent valley.  Despite this sad news, it is worth noting that our known mortality rate is still the lowest of any kite release project in Britain.  There appeared to be no suspicious circumstances and the location and situation indicate that the bird might have been the victim of a road traffic accident, but we shall never know.  At the time of writing, due to a backlog of work with the veterinary staff at London Zoo (who undertake our post mortems), we are still awaiting results for previously reported dead birds.

A recent survey of all of our monitoring information, from November 2006 to March 2007, has revealed that 57 different kites visited Gateshead and/or the lower Derwent valley over this period - a much higher number than we had realised.  This demonstrates the importance of the regular monitoring work undertaking by the Northern Kites volunteers.

We have had some outstanding recent information about some of our missing birds.  Wing tag Pink/Orange 34 has recently returned to Gateshead, having been last recorded in Wales - as did Pink/Orange 33 just a few weeks ago!  (It was in Wales at the time of the last volunteers' update!) In addition, some of our kites have been doing some very strange things.  Wing tag Pink/Green 72, which wintered in Yorkshire, has recently taken to ping-ponging back and forth between Gateshead and Harewood House!  Since mid-February, it has been up and down the country on four occasions, and it was in Yorkshire on the 23rd March.

Where to See Birds

Gibside, Lockhaugh, Fellside, Barlow Fell and Barlow, are all still turning up kites - look out for displaying birds!

Up & Coming Activity

April will see very considerable kite monitoring work to try to determine exactly what is happening with the establishment of breeding pairs.  To support this, on Saturdays 7th and 14th April, volunteers from the local bird clubs will be helping out with a coordinated kite survey to try and find any outlying pairs of kites across the region.