About Red Kites

The Kite feeding station

Food is put out for the kites each day throughout the year. The feeding, by the way, is actually minimal, it just gives the birds a helping hand. Up to thirty or so are attracted to the food, depending on the weather and the season.

Watching from our purpose-built hide, you will have the opportunity to view the spectacle of the kites' flying acrobatics set against the backdrop of our hill fields.

Kites tend to feed on the wing and so you will see them swoop down to seize the food in their talons before they soar upwards again, sometimes being challenged by another bird for their haul.

Other birds you may be lucky enough to see include peregrine, kestrel, buzzards, sparrow hawk and hen harriers as well as a wide variety of smaller birds attracted by our conservation management.

A recent survey recorded over a hundred species on the farm.

The Kites

Although the population of kites is still small and extremely vulnerable, it is expanding steadily.

The birds are easiest to see during the October to March period, when the young ones are particularly gregarious.

At other times of the year, the birds are busy breeding and can be much more secretive; however, there is still a chance to see them, along with the many other species that live on our farm.

Here at Lerrocks Farm, we want you to enjoy the countryside, see the birds and learn how farming and wildlife conservation can work hand-in-hand.

While running an economic farm business on our thirteen-hundred acre sheep and cattle farm, we are aiming to help support wildlife and to give our visitors the chance to learn about the countryside and what we do.

We are also lucky to live in a part of rural Scotland which is still very accessible from all the major routes north.

Wing tags

Until 2017, wing tags were fitted on kites at the patagium, a loose fold of skin between the shoulder and elbow. This method had been used for many years on a variety of bird species and caused no harm.

Wing tags stay with red kites for life, unless they fall off! Many birds still carry two tags, fitted whilst ringing the young.

Wing tags allowed individual identification of birds to establish such information as survival rates, age of first breeding, movement patterns and composition of breeding pairs.

It was due to the wing-tagging programme that a vet in Portugal was able to report in autumn 2003 the rescue of one of our birds found near Porto with a fractured wing.

Colour scheme

Different colour tags were fitted to each wing.

1. The left wing tag denotes which population the kite belongs to:

• Central Scotland red kites carry a red left wing tag
• North Scotland birds carry a blue left wing tag
• Dumfries and Galloway kites carry a green left wing tag

At Argaty we saw a bird from Yorkshire, identified by its orange left wingtag.

2. The right wing tag colour denotes the year code (see chart below).
So that the tags can be read even if only one is visible, a bar at the bottom of the tag shows the colour of the opposite wing tag.

We are always keen to hear where kites are sighted and will pass this information on to the RSPB.
Contact us by e-mail: info(at)argatyredkites.co.uk or phone us on 01786 841373.

Wing tags

discontinued after 2017

  

Location	Year	Kite's Left Wing	Kite's Right Wing
Central Scotland	1996	Yellow	Yellow
	1997	Dark Green	Dark Green
	1998	Red	Lime Green
	1999	Red	Black
	2000	Red	Pink
	2001	Red	Blue
	2002	Red	White
	2003	Red	Red
	2004	Red	Yellow
	2005	Red	Orange
	2006	Red	Lime Green
	2007	Red	Purple
	2008	Red	Black
	2009	Red	Pink
	2010	Red	Blue
	2011	Red	White
	2012	Red	Red
	2013	Red	Yellow
	2014	Red	Orange
	2015	Red	Lime Green
	2016	Red	Purple
	2017	Red	Black
North Scotland	1996	Blue	Yellow
	1997	Blue	Orange
	1997	Blue	Orange
	1997	Blue	Orange
	1998	Blue	Lime Green
	1999	Blue	Black
	2000	Blue	Pink
	2001	Blue	Blue
	2002	Blue	White
	2003	Blue	Red
	2004	Blue	Yellow
	2005	Blue	Orange
	2006	Blue	Lime Green
	2007	Blue	Purple
	2008	Blue	Black
	2009	Blue	Pink
	2010	Blue	Blue
	2011	Blue	White
	2012	Blue	Red
	2013	Blue	Yellow
	2014	Blue	Orange
	2015	Blue	Lime Green
	2016	Blue	Purple
	2017	Blue	Black
South West Scotland	1996	Green	Yellow
	1997	Green	Orange
	1998	Green	Lime Green
	1999	Green	Black
	2000	Green	Pink
	2001	Green	Blue
	2002	Green	White
	2003	Green	Red
	2004	Green	Yellow
	2005	Green	Orange
	2006	Green	Lime Green
	2007	Green	Purple
	2008	Green	Black
	2009	Green	Pink
	2010	Green	Blue
	2011	Green	White
	2012	Green	Red
	2013	Green	Yellow
	2014	Green	Orange
	2015	Green	Lime Green
	2016	Green	Purple
	2017	Green	Black