The Argaty Red Kites Nest Camera

Nesting season this year proved to be something of a roller-coaster ride for central Scotland’s Red Kites and visitors to the Argaty feeding station were able to watch all the action on our new nest camera.

From the moment that the CCTV camera was installed on 5th May, the highs and lows of a young Kite’s life could be seen.

Getting Started

The process of deciding upon a suitable location for the camera to be installed in began on 11th April when a female Kite was spotted incubating eggs on a nest near to the feeding station. The nest, as we would later discover, contained two eggs, which is a fairly common number for a breeding pair of Kites to lay.

Having identified the nest location, it was essential to allow the female Kite some time to settle before installing the camera. This was necessary as we did not want to risk scaring the female for fear she might abandon the nest. We therefore waited 23 days before we set the camera up.

The installation was done by a team of expert tree climbers from the forestry commission, who set up the device in the neighbouring tree to the Kites’ nest. Once the camera was in place we then waited for just under a month until, a few days ahead of schedule, the two chicks hatched.

Disaster Strikes

For the first ten days of the chicks’ lives, things were going very well. Both looked healthy and were regularly fed by the adult male and protected by the female. Then, disaster struck. Over a twenty-four hour period on 23rd May, Scotland was battered by 100 mph winds.

For a few hours we watched the CCTV footage of the young Kites clinging to the nest for dear life; it looked as though they could be blown from the tree at any point. Then falling trees in the area hit the electricity lines and we lost power until late the next day. The uncertainty about what was going on was unbearable, all that we could do was hope that the Kites had survived the storms.

As luck would have it our prayers were answered. The nest and camera trees stayed standing, even while firs all around them had come crashing down; both of the chicks had survived too. Unfortunately many other Kite chicks were not as lucky. In total we lost 30 percent of our Kite nests – either through them being blown from the tree or from the whole tree coming down. If Kites usually have up to three chicks in their breeding season then we can estimate that anything between 20 and 60 chicks were lost, all in a twenty-four hour period.

Once the storms had passed we began to repair the damage that had been caused. A falling tree had struck the camera, knocking it off-centre. We therefore had to scale the tree once more and reposition the camera. We did that and then we were back in business.

Back on Track

When Red Kite chicks are around five weeks old, the staff at Argaty and RSPB employees begin the process of tagging their wings and ringing their legs.

A lot can be discovered about a Kite, simply by spotting these wing-tags. Each Kite chick hatched in central Scotland is fitted with a red tag upon their left wing. (The colour of this tag denotes the fact that the bird is from this part of Britain. Every area of Britain in which the birds have been reintroduced has a different left-wing tag colour). As well as being able to see where a Kite was hatched, the wing-tags also help the viewer to know when the bird hatched. This year’s chicks were fitted with white tags upon their right wing. Every year the right wing-tag colour changes. Chicks hatched in 2010, for example, were fitted with blue tags on their right wing.

Each Red Kite is given an individual identity number, which is printed upon their tags. On 19th June, the nest camera chicks were fitted with tags reading “S3″ and “S4″.

Once the ringing and tagging process was completed, we foolishly believed that the remaining weeks that the chicks spent in the nest would be quiet ones. It didn’t quite turn out that way. On 26th June, we noticed that one of the chicks – “S4″ as we now referred to it – was missing from the nest. We hurried up to the nest area to see whether the chick had fallen to the ground but there was no sign of it anywhere around the base of the tree. It was only when the professional tree-climber arrived that we discovered what had happened. The chick was found in a rather precarious position. It had fallen from the nest and was now perched on a somewhat shaky branch below. The youngster was returned to the nest and early in July, both chicks fledged the nest.

In the end, 76 chicks fledged the nest in central Scotland. Although many nests failed, 40 were successful and we now have around 300 Red Kites in the area. Had the weather been better, we may have seen a higher number of chicks taking to the skies however it was hugely rewarding to see the two from the CCTV nest successfully fledge.

Thanks to the camera, we are looking forward to following the Kites closely again next year, whatever the weather brings!

Swallows and house martins – starting to gather!

Our swallows and house martins have started to gather on the wires around the farm. It’s a stark reminder that Autumn is on its way and our favourite summer visitors will soon be migrating back to southern Africa……a 5,000 mile journey is particularly impressive, given the size of the birds involved! They generally begin their mammoth journey in October, although this seems to be getting increasingly late, with some birds not migrating at all! The BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) confirmed last year that a swallow had successfully stayed and survived a winter in the UK!!

Not a bad year considering!

Sorry for the delay getting this information out. It’s been a mixed year for the kites, with 40 successful pairs in Central Scotland fledging 76 chicks. The fact that we’ve had so many chicks is amazing, as we lost 30% of our kite nests in the storms that battered the area back in May…..the fact that any nests survived the 100 mph winds is a miracle! The above picture shows how one lucky chick clung on when it’s nest was half hanging out the tree – thankfully keith was on hand to do some major repairs! The 2011 wing-tag colour is White, with some of the young are starting to appear at the feeding station.