RED KITE Milvus milvus Resident and scarce breeder. 1991 – A juvenile flew south at Timble Ings on 13th January. There followed three January sightings with singles at a site in Wharfedale on 19th and 27th. The next report was from the same area but not until 23rd March when a juvenile was seen flying down the valley. Finally, singles were reported from this area in April on 9th and 10th. It is known that a young Swedish bird released in Scotland last year under RSPB’s re-introduction scheme was in Wharfedale for at least part of the first winter period. It is assumed that all records refer to that individual. Red Kite photo: Stephen Lilley 1992 – There was just two records. Firstly a bird was observed in Wharfedale on 29th February. This was possibly the same bird recorded regularly in 1991. The second sighting was on 10th October when a bird was seen hunting at Hoodstorth. 1993 – There was one record - a single bird seen at Triangle in the Ryburn Valley on 4th December. 1996 – A bird gave excellent views as it soared over Halton Heights on 31st March and delighted the lucky observers before it drifted west towards Skipton. 1997 – A good year, with four single birds reported, though all sightings were of fly-overs. The earliest sighting was of a bird over Askwith Moor on 12th July, which constitutes the Group’s first- ever summer record of this species – and perhaps accounts for a further sighting shortly after this, of a bird over the Bolton area of Bradford. The next reported sighting was not until 9th September before disappearing northwards. Finally, a bird flew up Wharfedale over Barden Moor on 26th October. The increasing incidence of this graceful raptor in the recording area must be due to the success of the recent re-introduction schemes in southern England and northern Scotland and, with a further scheme underway in the midlands, we might expect birds to turn up more often in our area; even breeding (an impossible prospect not so long ago) might be on the cards eventually. Although none of this year’s birds appeared to be wing-tagged, tags can be difficult to detect in the field, and all four birds sighted almost certainly emanated from the introduced stock. 1998 – There was just one record; a bird flying west up Wharfedale at Clifton (near Otley) on 19th October. 1999 – The eagerly-awaited scheme to re-introduce the species to Yorkshire finally got underway during the summer, with the release of a number of juveniles on the Harewood estate to the north of Leeds. The site chosen was a welcome surprise, as it is much closer to the eastern boundary of the Group’s recording area than was anticipated. The scheme is to continue with further releases over the next few years, and so we look forward to recording this elegant raptor more and more often as numbers increase and birds begin to wander. Breeding in the vicinity of the release site BOG 1991 - 2018 !1 25 August 2019 should begin after two years, and there is now a real prospect of the species eventually becoming established within the Group’s recording area. Although 1999 was an improvement on the previous year, with three records, these all came from the north-western corner of the Group’s recording area. It was also finally disappointing in that so little was seen of the released birds, but it is early days yet. The first record, from Barden Moor on 25th April, was of particular interest in that it involved two birds. Barden Moor featured again on 3rd August, but this time with a single, while a bird was reported from nearby Barden Fell on 17th August. The year’s final two records are thought to relate to the same individual which had strayed from the release site mentioned above, but the earlier record pre-dates the release and must have involved birds from further afield. 2000 – An average year for a species which is now expected annually, probably as a result of the various reintroduction schemes. Records were submitted from the Barden Scale area and Blubberhouses, and all were of single birds. It is considered that two individuals were involved. The first was seen at Barden on 18th March, with another there on 6th May. A bird seen at Blubberhouses on 18th March was undoubtedly the one seen flying east at Barden a short time earlier. Two other unsupported records were received, relating to birds at Barden Scale and Ovenden Moor. 2001 – Sightings continue to increase, but the suspicion must remain that these are fuelled by introduced birds from the Harewood estate, although only one bird was seen to be definitely tagged. Birds were recorded between March and November at Barden Scale, Lindley Wood Reservoir, Otley, Knotford Nook and Timble Ings, and the pattern of sightings tends to suggest that a maximum of 10 birds was involved, although a handful of wandering birds could have accounted for all the records. 2002 – Birds were recorded between February and November, with nearly all the sightings in the first half of the year. By far the most records came from the Barden area, but with other birds seen at Blubberhouses, Denton, Hazlewood Moor, Sykes Ghyll, Kex Gill and Farnley. The notes provided suggest that about nine different birds may have been involved. Whilst some birds were untagged, there must be a distinct probability that most, if not all, originate from introduction schemes. 2003 - There are now far too many records to enumerate. Birds were noted in all months from a variety of sites. All the tagged birds noted have originated from the Harewood release scheme and it is presumed that most if not all untagged birds are from this scheme as well. The highest count was of eight near the 12 Apostle Stones on Rombald’s Moor in Early May and contained both tagged Harewood birds and birds without tags. Up to three were regularly seen in the Timble Ings/ Blubberhouses area in April and birds were regularly reported in Wharfedale during the summer months. 2004 - Reports are now coming from many parts of the area in all months of the year as a result of the expanding and highly successful Harewood re-introduction scheme. Even more encouraging was the recording area’s first breeding attempt that involved a second-year male and a first-year female rearing two chicks to fledging. In addition to this, regular display was observed at various BOG 1991 - 2018 !2 25 August 2019 sites during the late winter and early spring, which bodes well for further breeding attempts in future years. 2005 - The Report for as recently as 2000 described that year as being average, with four records of probably two birds. This year, just short of 200 records have been submitted, covering every month! That said, it should be stressed that the vast majority of these came from the same location, Barden Scale, and reflect the diligence of the regular observer (AGG), so they do not necessarily indicate the total number of birds actually present in the recording area. Whilst some birds were individually identified by tags, others weren’t, and assessment of numbers is therefore impossible. It can, however, be said that multiple sightings at this location were fairly commonplace, and on one occasion, 19th November, six birds were seen. Other records came almost entirely from the Otley area and the Washburn Valley, where at least five birds were present on 22nd June. The one exception was a welcome sighting in the south, where a bird was present at Warley Moor on 21st March. Clearly all this is reflective of the success of the Harewood introduction scheme, and it is pleasing to report that for the second successive year a pair bred in the recording area, successfully fledging two young, whilst another pair was present all spring at another location. 2006 - The 260 reports submitted in 2006 represented a record for this species. Any euphoria must, however, be subject to a few caveats: * Nearly 150 of the records came from one location, Barden Scale, and there were many other sightings in the same general area, presumably referable to the same birds. * All but four of the remaining records came from the Washburn Valley and the lower part of Wharfedale, suggesting the birds originated from the Harewood scheme. * Many of the Barden sightings referred to a pair resident in the area, identified by numbered wing- tags. It is therefore difficult to evaluate the true extent of the birds’ spread from the Harewood introduction site, but multiple sightings, particularly at Barden, were commonplace, and six birds were seen on two occasions, and seven and eight birds once, this last sighting on 30th September, being a day record for the Group (AGG). Elsewhere, seven birds were seen together at Lindley Green on 26th March. Whilst wing-tags on many of the birds seen at Barden identified these as also having local origins, a bird which summered in the area was identified by the same means as being from another introduction scheme in Northamptonshire, so it is clear not all the birds seen are necessarily local. Last year, only one record came from a location away from the above-mentioned core areas: this year there were four. On 3rd June, a bird was seen at Thornton Moor Reservoir, and what might have been the same bird eight days later at nearby Warley Moor, though there had been no other sightings in the interim period. Denholme Clough is a known autumn migration flyway, so the bird seen there on 4th October could have been relocating.