{"id":67914,"date":"2025-08-15T02:56:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T02:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/67914\/"},"modified":"2025-08-15T02:56:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T02:56:14","slug":"successful-wildlife-project-welcomes-red-kites-back-to-lincolnshire-including-areas-in-spalding-bourne-and-boston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/67914\/","title":{"rendered":"Successful wildlife project welcomes Red Kites back to Lincolnshire \u2013\u00a0including areas in Spalding, Bourne and Boston"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A bird species which was once on the brink of extinction is now thriving thanks to a \u2018phenomenally successful\u2019 re-introduction project.<\/p>\n

Spotting a Red Kite was once almost unheard of in the UK, however recent studies have now shown the species is being seen more regularly \u2013 including in areas across Lincolnshire, such as Spalding<\/a>, Bourne<\/a> and Boston<\/a>.<\/p>\n

County resident, Phil Espin, 66, who is a founding member of the Lincolnshire Bird Club, knows all too well about the bird of prey which soars our skies.<\/p>\n

\"SomeSome of the members from Lincolnshire Bird Club, with Phil Espin (third on the left) holding a book he published last year PHOTO: Submitted<\/p>\n

He is thrilled with the success a 36-year-old re-introduction project has had, and hopes figures will continue to rise for generations to come.<\/p>\n

Phil, who lives in Louth<\/a>, said: \u201cBetween 2009 and 2012 there was an average of 12 pairs recorded per year, but it has now increased to around 70 pairs in Lincolnshire.<\/p>\n

\u201cRed Kites used to be a scarce bird but you can now see them all over, from Gibraltar Point, Frampton Marsh and Willow Tree Fen \u2013 residents may also spot them flying over their homes.<\/p>\n

\"AA Red Kite PHOTO:John Clarkson<\/p>\n

\u201cTo see an increase is very pleasing. I didn\u2019t see my first Red Kite in Lincolnshire until the late 1990s.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore the re-introduction project started you could go between five and ten years before you saw one again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Red Kites were a regular sight in the Middle Ages, they were sadly branded as vermin and as a result were often killed and targeted by egg collectors.<\/p>\n

The species died out and were extinct in Scotland, England and Ireland by the 1870s.<\/p>\n

However, thanks to conservation efforts made by farmers and volunteers, five breeding pairs were discovered in Wales and numbers were able to partially recover.<\/p>\n

In a bid to boost breeding pairs even more, a re-introduction scheme which launched in 1989.<\/p>\n

Juvenile birds were taken from Continental Europe, and were released at different locations across England and Scotland, including at Fineshade Wood, nor far from Stamford<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The chicks were released until 2009, and it was estimated the total population in the UK had increased to around 1,600 pairs \u2013 with the latest figures showing the population stands at 4,400 pairs.<\/p>\n

Phil added: \u201cThe birds are doing so well in Britain, conservationists are now taking chicks from nests in England to Spain, as the population there has suffered and declined.<\/p>\n

\u201cRed Kites are the closest thing to a vulture we have got in the UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are a very attractive bird to watch as they\u2019re very graceful in the air.\u201d<\/p>\n

The RSPB led many of the Red Kite introduction programmes in Scotland, Northern Ireland and England.<\/p>\n

Ed Tooth, who is Conservation Officer at the wildlife charity said: \u201cRed Kites were once on the brink of extinction as a breeding species in the late 20th century.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the UK population now stands at an estimated 4,400 pairs, following phenomenally successful re-introductions across England, Scotland, and Wales by the RSPB as well as other conservation organisations.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy increasing the range and population of Red Kites through release programmes, the population is now much more robust.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have seen an increase in Red Kites across the skies of Lincolnshire, and it is heartening to see this once threatened species doing so well in the county and across the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have you spotted any where you live? If you manage to get a picture, make sure to send it to news@lincsonline.co.uk, so we can feature it on our Instagram page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A bird species which was once on the brink of extinction is now thriving thanks to a \u2018phenomenally…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2851,3606,35576,1397,192,8739,10605,90,13191,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-67914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animals","tag-boston","tag-bourne","tag-environment","tag-human-interest","tag-lincs-homepage","tag-louth","tag-science","tag-spalding","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}