Gwlad y Barcud/Kite Country

by Joan Bray

The return of the Red Kite is one of Great Britain's greatest conservation successes. In medieval times Kites were abundant, protected by royal decree in London as a scavenger of refuse and dead animals. But in the mid-16th century a series of Acts to control "vermyn" was brought in, and over the next 200 years kites were systematically slaughtered. The rise of Victorian egg and skin collectors was the final blow for English and Scottish kites. The last English pair nested in 1870 and the last Scottish pair in 1879. A mere handful of pairs survived in the remote valleys of mid-Wales.

Now, thanks to sustained conservation efforts, the beautiful Red Kite is once again becoming familiar in mid-Wales, and birds are now being reintroduced to other parts of Great Britain.

Seventeen years ago when I was last in England, spotting a Red Kite was a rare occurrence. On a recent visit to mid-Wales I went to one of the daily feeding sites where pieces of meat were thrown out on the stony beach of a small lake. Some 20 kites came in and remained for 30 minutes, accompanied by a crowd of crows and magpies! I had two other sightings. A solitary bird was flying through a remote mountain valley, its rusty brown plumage glowing in the sun. Along the coast, a kite hovered close by, then perched on a telephone pole, where it was harassed by a magpie. But the kite refused to leave.