I walked into the CCTV room at Easter Anguston yesterday morning and was delighted to see a bird standing on the nest. I moved closer to the screen and was amazed to see it was a chick not an adult!
The 2 chicks are being left on their own a lot more now, with mum (wingtag 25) only coming in during the frequent rain showners. During one particularly violent hail storm yesterday, she dutifully sat over them for nearly an hour. She got soaked herself and with the chicks obviously moving around underneath her it musn't have been that comfy!
My name's Jenny Lennon and I'm a kite'aholic! All I've done for the last couple of weeks is watch the CCTV footage of our new red kite family. Joycey (25) and Treekid (13) are doing a fantastic job and the chicks are suitable fat and well fed. Their feathers are just starting to come through and they look like real kites.
Worried that the male (Treekid) only came in at weekends I camped out every lunchtime last week and rewarded with fantastic views of the whole family on the nest together. Treekid is a bit smaller than Joycey but his head is a striking silver grey and he looks fantastic.
I'm off now to have another sneaky peak at the video screen . . .
For the first time in almost 150 years, red kites are breeding again in Aberdeen. This is so exciting and a little unexpected at this stage of the project so we are all delighted! the picture to the right is our two little stars which have grown so much since the picture was taken just 10 days ago. To celebrate we have LIVE CCTV footage of our new chicks beamed to VSA Easter Anguston Farm (just outside Aberdeen) and recorded highlights in the centre of the city. If you get a chance come and see our very new and special family.
Yesterday, though. it was back to the usual less glamorous part of the job - clearing out the cages! Several hours of disinfectant and brash cutting later the cages are as good as new for this year's chicks which will arrive soon to complete our reintroduction.
I'll try and keep you all posted on the progress of our red kite chicks as not everyone can make it down to see the footage. My main worry is how I'm going to get any other work done as I could spend all day watching the CCTV!