A Scottish gamerkeeper has criticised the proliferation of red kites in the SW. of Scotland. David Parker insists there is a dark side to the spectacular birds of prey which have become a money spinning tourist attraction in the Stewartry. And he believes their numbers are spiralling out of control to the cost of other birds.
Mr Parker was upset after losing dozens of young pheasants he had released in preparation for the shooting season which gets under way next week. And he believes the poults were killed by red kites nesting nearby, just days after they were put into the woods. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, however, insists red kites only feed on carrion.
But the Scottish Gamekeepers Association said it has had so many complaints it plans to investigate.
Mr Parker, who lives in Rhonehouse, said: “The RSPB say they only take carrion but that’s not the case. These are only poults but they also take young ducks, young wading birds and even young rabbits. “I’m not against red kites but they have got to be in proportion and built up over time, rather than just having them coming in. “We can’t have one species being protected to the detriment of others. “I’ve been in touch with the Scottish Gamekeepers Association and they said they have had three other keepers in the area with the same problem.
“I’m only a part-time keeper. Three or four of my friends and me scrabble together a bit of money when we can to get poults so we can do some shooting. We’re probably down £60 or £70 but that’s not the point. “We do all the vermin control we can to encourage wild stock and to help the song bird population but what can we do about the red kites?”
The RSPB was instrumental in red kites being reintroduced to the region between 2001 and 2005. The Galloway Red Kite Trail, which includes a feeding station at Laurieston’s Bellymack Farm, was created in 2004. And an RSPB report in 2010 claimed that the trail has helped boost the local economy by an average of £3.5million a year.
Chris Rollie, RSPB Scotland area manager and co-author of the report, said: “I sympathise with the chap who is losing his poults but I can assure him it is not a kite that is responsible. “If kites are feeding on poults then it is because something else has killed them. “We’ve never had an issue with kites taking pheasant poults anywhere. When we were releasing them we took people from three shooting estates to central Scotland to where they were being kept. “In one pen was pheasant poults and in the other was the red kites – they were released at the same time and there wasn’t an issue. “They are capable of taking very small voles and maybe very small ducks and wading birds but nothing bigger than the size of your first – they are not designed to kill. “This is the first time we’ve ever had a situation where someone is alleging red kites are taking pheasant poults and we’d be happy to chat to him about the issue and give some reassurances.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Gamekeepers Association said: “I can confirm a number of people – not just gamekeepers but land managers – have been in touch with us with deep concerns about this issue.
“The Scottish Gamekeepers Association will be investigating further and will also be writing an article for our forthcoming quarterly magazine on the issue.”
The SGA really are a bunch of ignorant cretins
“part-time keeper”…Full-time bullsh**ter!
Ah…. the use of the dreaded “songbird” word indicates that this person is indeed a moron.
All birds have a “song” of sorts, be it a nightingale’s chorus or a peregrine’s wail.
I await a staged video showing a red kite snatching a white tailed sea eagle chick….
I live in SW Scotland (not as far over as Laurieston but still…) I do love to see red kites, but they are becoming the rats of the sky here. It used to be really exciting to see them but now they’re the same as buzzards, only really interesting for tourists… My quail make a hell of a racket when they fly over the house, but I can’t imagine them actually coming in for a snack…
Forgive me Tina, but I’m a little confused.
“Rats of the sky”???
So, although you claim to love seeing them, do you actually view them as “vermin” at the same time? How can a species be so lauded when it’s rare, but resented when it becomes more commonplace? Personally, as a birder of some 35 years, I find common species just as fascinating as rare ones.
Might I politely suggest that you cherish every opportunity to see Kites (and Buzzards for that matter). Because, if the likes of the SGA get their way, you, and your children, will be denied this for ever.
“We can’t have one species being protected to the detriment of others”.
Isn’t that what game rearing is all about. Breath taking hypocrisy!
Editor’s Comment. Very good point indeed.
Tina – kites and buzzards clean up carcasses that might spread disease and also help farmers with rodent and rabbit problems. You seem to be comparing them with feral pigeons which is frankly bizarre!!
“land managers as well!” Jings, crivens, help-ma-bob- no them too! What a persuasive argument!
“The Scottish Gamekeepers Association will be investigating further and will also be writing an article for our forthcoming quarterly magazine on the issue.”
Somebody must have donated them a new box of crayons….will there be drawings too?
Editor’s comment.The propaganda from the anti raptor brigade is now gaining momentum from all over the country, based on what can only be described as total rubbish, and we must counter what is taking place with renewed vigour. It doesn’t help raptors of course to have a minister like Benyon in charge of DEFRA and Natural England. The real disappointment of course even if Labour game to power the situation may not change for the better.
Despite the criminals, its good to learn of a pair of kites breeding in a new area.
Apparently helium balloons in the pens work a treat to keep buzzards out, might work with Kites too. Just tie them to a large stone or brick. That would solve the problem for the pheasant poults.
Editor’s Comment. Thanks Daye for this information, lets hope it works as well with Kites as it seems to do with Buzzards.
As long as the balloons do not pop and then we will all being going as high as a Kite!!
Pheasants are the vermin on my nature reserves–they eat everything from wild violets to slow worms —-as an introduced alien species they should be considered in the same way we think of grey squirrels. The poults our local shoot captive farms are released in such numbers that there is very little natural food for them—–we often find them dead from exposure and undernourishment. PS our local shoot blames their losses on buzzards—-nothing to do with releasing tame birds that have been fattened up in pens and then then expected to survive in the wild.