Argaty Red Kites
Not far from Stirling in central Scotland is Argaty - a farm estate renowned for its part in the reintroduction of Red Kites. A partnership between the RSPB, Scottish Natural Heritage and local land owners such as Lerrocks farm here at Argaty has helped bring these birds back from the brink!
Red Kites were once one of the most common birds of prey but were persecuted to near enough extinction because it was wrongly thought that they were killing livestock. In fact Red Kites eat Carrion, which is basically flesh of something already dead. During lambing season on the livestock farms, they would come down to feed on the sheep’s afterbirth, and if a dead lamb was found they would have a go on that - this led to farmers seeing these big birds of prey on their dead lambs and thinking they had killed them. They are not strong enough to kill or carry a lamb or anything near that size in fact.
Game keepers also wrongly thought the Kites were taking game birds so also persecuted them. As they became rarer they were targeted by taxidermists and egg collectors and they were completely wiped out from the UK apart from a small number in Wales which were then carefully protected.
Through conservation efforts and places like Argaty these birds are now making a comeback, and now naturally spreading across the UK again. They are now a protected species under the wildlife and countryside act which deems them a “schedule 1” bird.
I have a good population of Red Kites nearby to my home in West Yorkshire as one of the reintroduction sites was Harewood near Leeds. They are always magnificent to witness!
At Argaty Red Kites they have set up a feeding station, daily throwing out some food (just enough to supplement their diet and not make them dependant) which gives the birds a helping hand, especially through Autumn and Winter. They also have hides available for people to book into to witness and photograph the action close up. When the food gets thrown onto the field the sky fills with soaring Red Kites and it isn’t long before they are diving down to pick up some food - eating it on the wing.
They are very keen to educate too, they have set up a visitor centre with lots of information about these birds and their plight and the money made from admission and photography hides helps towards further rewilding efforts. The estate also has Red Squirrels which they have set up a photography hide for as well as Beavers which they run tours to see!
As part of my visit I had booked into the Red Squirrel hide in the morning. I was welcome to stay as long as I wanted but was advised that the Squirrels usually go quiet around midday anyway and I wouldn’t want to miss the Kite feeding at 2pm - so that’s what we did! around 3 hours in the Squirrel hide had them coming very close. The only negative about the day was the weather - it was very dark and wet which limited photography even in a hide due to light levels.
Seeing the Kites swirl and swoop and some even tussling, locking talons and spiralling towards the ground before letting go at the last minute was breath taking. Watching them use their forked tail to steer is always mesmerising. I have also visited a feeding station at Bellymack Farm near Lauriston in Dumfries and Galloway which has huge numbers of Red Kites - I don’t think I will ever tire of seeing them! One of the most graceful birds in the UK, and definitely one of my favourites!