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The red kite observation centre in Tollie, near Dingwall, is due to close after 14 years.
Set up in 2009 as part of the Eyes to the Skies educational project, the partnership between the Brahan Estate and RSPB Scotland has been winding down operations since the impacts of Covid-19 pandemic and avian influenza forced a cease in events.
The site gave RSPB Scotland the opportunity to interact with tens of thousands of locals, tourists and visitors to the region, raising awareness of the species’ activities.
Additional food was distributed, attracting kites and other birds, allowing visitors to see them up close and learn more about their herbal history. The task also gave local schools the opportunity to adopt a red kite and track its progress using satellite tags.
Following the finishing touch of the Eyes to the Skies project, RSPB Scotland and Brahan Estate picked up and continued their legacy as a position in the history of red kites in Scotland.
The north of Scotland was chosen to host one of the first reintroduced populations in the UK, following the extinction of the red kites in the UK due to persecution in the late 19th century, with the exception of a small population in Wales.
Between 1989 – 1994, 93 kites from Sweden were re-introduced near Munlochy on the Black Isle, and another 93 in the Chilterns in England. The first successful breeding was recorded on the Black Isle in 1992, and two years later kites born here in Scotland raised their own chicks for the first time.
Further re-introductions have been carried out at three other sites in Scotland, and these birds are now a common sight across the country, their iconic forked tail an easy characteristic to look out for.
Across the UK, the red kite population has grown naturally, and there are now in excess of 1000 pairs. The latest survey of the North Scotland population was in 2019 and found there to be around 80 pairs, including the first successful nest in the Cairngorms National Park.
Sadly, feeding at Tollie had to be disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic due to staff absences and for the protection of visitors and volunteers, and the outbreak of avian flu in 2021 meant that, for the health of kites and other birds in the area, the resolution was made. It was done so as not to resume feeding.
Since the goal of nutrition was public participation and education, birds were never dependent on food, so this did not harm their population. Red kites are primarily scavengers and have very little effect on local wildlife.
Now, the conservation charity has to withdraw from control of the site, as the red kite population has returned to strength in the domain and the birds are an integral component of the local culture and environment. The site will be returned to the property in January. 31.
Tollie’s paintings became imaginable thanks to the investment and help of Leader, SSE, NatureScot, and Brahan Estate.
Site director Simon McLaughlin said: “Our time at Tollie was a fantastic example of successful partnership and outreach work. We completed everything we set out to do with the site and more. Thank you to all the volunteers, the farm and other local people for their continued care of these now well-established birds. On their behalf, RSPB Scotland expresses its immense gratitude to them and what a success, after so many years of absence due to human persecution, to see the red kites now healthy and indeed returned to their homes, where they belong.