Trailblazing red kite viewing centre at Tollie in Ross-shire set to close after 14 years
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The red kite viewing centre at Tollie near Dingwall is 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 has offered a chance for RSPB Scotland to engage with tens of thousands of local people, tourists and visitors to the area, raising their awareness of this returned species over the period of its activities.
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Supplementary food was put out, attracting kites and other birds which allowed visitors to see them up close and learn about their natural history. The project also gave local schools the opportunity to adopt a red kite and follow its progress using satellite tags.
After the Eyes to the Skies project came to an end, RSPB Scotland and the Brahan Estate took on and continued its legacy as an important place in the history of red kites in Scotland.
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.
The North of Scotland was chosen to host one of the UK’s first re-introduced populations, after red kites became extinct in the UK due to persecution in the late 19th century, barring 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.
Feeding at Tollie sadly had to stop during the Covid-19 pandemic due to staff furlough and for the safety of visitors and volunteers, and the avian influenza outbreak in 2021 meant that for the health of the kites and other birds in the area the decision was made not to resume feeding.
As the purpose of the feeding was for public engagement and education, the birds were never reliant on the food, so this had no detriment to their population. Red kites are predominantly scavengers and have very little impact on the local wildlife.
Now, the conservation charity has decided to step back from managing the site as the red kite population is once again stable in the area and the birds are an integrated part of local culture and the environment.The site will be given back to the Estate on January 31.
The work at Tollie was made possible thanks to funding and support from Leader, SSE, NatureScot and the Brahan Estate.
Site manager Simon McLaughlin said “Our time at Tollie has been a fantastic example of successful partnership work and awareness raising. We have achieved all that we set out do with the site and more. Thank you to all volunteers, the estate and local people in their long-term ongoing support for these now well-established birds. On their behalf, RSPB Scotland offers a huge gratitude, and what a success, after so many years of absence through human persecution, to see red kites are now well and truly settled back into their home, where they belong.”
