Red Kite to return

Date: 2003-12-05, Publication: The Journal

Next year it could be a case of red kite in sight, shoppers delight. For the spectacle of the birds of prey with their 5ft wingspans soaring over Gateshead's MetroCentre and other urban areas is now on the cards.

Plans to reintroduce up to 30 young red kites to the North-East became a reality yesterday when the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) agreed to pour more than £300,000 into the ambitious venture.

And in what will be a world-first, the birds will be released and are expected to make their home on the urban edge of Tyneside.

They will be set free in the Derwent Valley in Gateshead next summer, with landmarks such as the Angel of the North and the MetroCentre on their doorstep.

Before they were persecuted into extinction in England, kites were urban birds which scavenged waste in the medieval streets.

They did such a good job as nature's dustmen that they were given special protection.

Now the North-East birds are seen as an ideal way to capture the imagination of urban dwellers and introduce them to wildlife and nature.

"They are majestic birds which could soon be floating over St James's Park on a match day, or the MetroCentre and the Angel of the North. Red kites have been absent from the skies of northern England for far too long and we are all looking forward to helping bring them back home, " said RSPB regional director Andy Bunten.

"That will be brilliant - absolutely fantastic. These birds are stunning wherever you see them."

The last record of a red kite in the North-East was of a bird being trapped and killed in Northumberland in 1869.

The North-East red kite project is managed by English Nature and the RSPB, working in partnership with Gateshead Council, Northumbrian Water, The National Trust and the Forestry Commission.

Gateshead Council has pledged £250,000 over five years, and Northumbrian Water £15,000 for each of the first two years.

The search will soon be underway to recruit a locally-based team to run the project, which it is hoped will prove a big visitor draw in the Derwent Valley.

The valley and surrounding area has been boosted in recent years by the transformation of former industrial sites such as Derwenthaugh Coke Works and Watergate Colliery into country parks.

The kites project will also tie in with the National Trust's 18th Century Gibside estate in the valley, which already attracts 80,000 visitors a year, and the Derwent Walk trail.

Opportunities for local people and visitors to watch the kites at special viewpoints are planned, along with community and education events.

Tony Laws, area manager for English Nature, said: " We are confident that the red kites, with their 5ft wingspan, rust-red plumage and forked tail, will be a major benefit to Gateshead. The return of the ospreys to the Lake District has been a huge boost to the local economy there, and we're hoping that the kites will achieve similar gains for the North-East."

Next summer the young kites will be sourced from an established population in southern England, with further releases planned for 2005 and 2006. Kites may start nesting in 2006 and it is hoped that the population will become self-sustaining. Mr Bunten said: "Kites are mainly scavengers with food like dead rabbits. But in the past anything with a hooked beak was seen as a threat to game shooting and there was a huge purge of any big bird of prey. But the Derwent Valley area is a perfect mix of woodland, farmland and parkland for the birds and is also on the urban fringe."

John McElroy, Gateshead Council cabinet member for learning and culture, said the kite project was another boost for Gateshead to follow its record in artworks, The Angel, and the Baltic, Sage and Millennium Bridge. "The reclamation of sites in the Derwent Valley area has been fantastic and we hope the birds will inspire people, particularly youngsters, and encourage interest in nature and environmental matters."

Richard Bailey, chairman of the HLF North-East committee, said: "People dont necessarily associate wildlife with their heritage, but we consider it to be just as important to the region as our historic buildings, traditions and parks."

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