Northern Kites update 14/06/07

News

Delighted to announce that we have babies in the lower Derwent valley and as consequence, Kitewatch 2007 started on 2nd June.  Flag and Red Philip, the first nesting pair from 2006, are at it again, and successfully so.  They have at least one young in a nest about 400m from last year's site, but the area is viewable from a location in the Derwent Walk County Park.  Current bad weather aside; Kitewatch is going very well indeed (over 2000 visitors in its first eight days).

Next time you visit MetroCentre; watch out for Red Kites in the Red Mall, which features large kite images, information panels and literature close to the pedestrian entrance and the Customer Services Desk of the Centre's Red Mall.  Our next informal Volunteers' meeting will be on Monday 2nd July, at 11 a.m. at the Northern Kites Office.  If you haven't yet seen the Northern Kites documentary, and would like to see it, please contact the Northern Kites Office, we have two copies on DVD that volunteers can borrow.

Jobs to do

Although the Kitewatch rota is well supported, Rhianne still needs additional volunteers to support the activities around the watch point.  So, if you have some time to commit to this, please contact Rhianne at the office as soon as possible.  Please note - if you are scheduled on the Kitewatch rota and the weather looks dreadful, please call the Office or Rhianne (on her mobile) to check that the event is on.

Bird news

As stated above, great news!  Once again, we can confirm that we have baby kites in a number of nests.  The full details will be forthcoming later.  Suffice to say there has been a significant increase in the number of breeding attempts over last year.  Recently we have received news of another great kite traveller.  Wing tag 'P/G 61' was, over the weekend of 9-10th June, watched in Worcester, eating a dead pigeon - it had been last noted in the Derwent valley on 31st May.

Where to see birds

Undoubtedly THE place to see kites at the moment, is the Kitewatch watch point.  This will be 'staffed' between 10am and 4pm daily, until Sunday 5th August 2007.  Please tell as many people as you possibly can to go and enjoy the kites here.

To reach the watch point, which is on Goodshields Haugh, in the Derwent Walk County Park, follow the marked trail from the car park at Winlaton Mill (opposite the garage at the traffic lights).

How to get there:

• By car - from the A1 follow the A694 to the car park at Winlaton Mill.
• By bus - catch the 'Red Kite' (numbers 45, 46 and 46A) bus from the Eldon Square bus station, Newcastle or the MetroCentre Interchange (Stand F), get off at the Winlaton Mill car park.

More generally, birds can be difficult to see at present as some of our green-tags (those released in 2006) have gone walk-about.  Recently, one or two birds have had an even higher presence over Rowlands Gill (try looking over the village i.e. around Tescos - at around 5 p.m. each day!) Also two birds have been regularly noted over the estates in Winlaton and down to Axwell Park - birds appear to be moving ever more and more into heart of the urban Tyneside.

Up-and-coming activity

In the coming months, we will be undertaking a lot of work in our developing Community Kite Clusters, around Powburn in Northumberland, Felling in east Gateshead, Barnard Castle in southwest Durham and central Newcastle.  If you can assist with work in any of these areas please contact Julie Chrisp at the office and alert us to your availability.  Thanks.