Welsh Kite Trust

In the spring 2001 issue of Boda Wennol we reported on how we were, at that time, unable to go out and search for kites and how we sincerely hoped that things would improve in the near future, enabling us to get at least a sample of nests monitored.Thankfully the situation did improve in some areas and in places such as Ceredigion and south Gwynedd, where there had been no confirmed outbreaks, we decided to seek the permission of land-owners to allow us to visit nests to check for signs of occupancy, to assess productivity and to mark chicks.

Many landowners were happy to allow us access as long as we observed bio-security procedures (involving disinfecting wheels and wellies) whilst others were still unhappy to allow access (and we completely understand their concerns). In other areas, particularly Breconshire, the outbreak got much worse. Here it would have been wrong for us to even attempt monitoring so we stayed well away.

Many farmers have helped us in our attempts to collect as much data as possible by sending details of the presence of their nesting kites. Many more may have information which would be of use. We have circulated a questionnaire and a return envelope to all known landowners at sites where we do not know what happened. Hopefully this will considerably increase our understanding of what happened in 2001.

At present the Trust has received details of some 106 occupied territories. In these territories there were at least 83 confirmed nests, 75 of which were definitely known to have contained eggs. 49 of these nests (59%) were known to have reared chicks, with at least 72 young fledged, and 25 are known to have failed. Of the confirmed brood sizes there were 24 broods of one chick, 22 broods of two chicks and one brood of three chicks. 56 chicks were ringed with BTO metal rings only.

2001 was clearly a productive year for kites in Wales with the number of broods of two or more chicks almost equal to those with only one, giving a mean figure of almost one and a half chicks per successful nest. Using very crude calculations - and assuming that the 106 sites that we monitored were representative of the population as a whole - we can extrapolate as follows.

The population in 2000 was estimated at 259 breeding pairs, if we add 10% (which is the average mean percentage increase per annum over the last few years) we arrive at an estimated total number of breeding pairs for 2001 in Wales of: 259 + 26 = 285
Minimum success rate in 2001 = 59%
Estimated no of successful nests in Wales = 285/100 x 59 = 168
Mean brood sizeper successful nest = 1.47
Estimated number of young fledged in Wales 168 x 1.47 = 247

This improved performance over the figures for 2000 owes much, we suspect, to the drier weather experienced in May and June when compared to the same time last year. In addition, the general lack of disturbance in the countryside due to the closing of footpaths etc. may have helped some pairs to succeed when they may otherwise have failed.
Hopefully we will be able to improve and update these data in the next newsletter, after we have received replies from our landowner questionaire or had chance to speak to them directly next spring.