First for UK as black and red kites produce two young

IT HAS been a well-kept secret in the world of ornithology, but it was revealed yesterday that for the first time in Britain a rare migratory black kite has bred with a native red kite.

The "unique" hatching of two hybrid chicks at a secret location in the Highlands last year was monitored by experts from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

Details were kept a close secret because of concerns about the risks posed by eager "twitchers" trying to get to the site.

News first surfaced yesterday after details were mistakenly placed on the official website for the public inquiry into the overhead power line between Beauly and Denny.

Details of the nest's location which is near the proposed route, were included in a confidential report opposing the development. After the blunder was spotted, the report was removed from the website.

But Brian Etheridge, the red kite project officer for RSPB Scotland, yesterday revealed that the hatching of the two chicks last year had been the culmination of a four-year search by the wandering black kite for romance.

He said: "It is unique. As far as I am aware this is the first time that a breeding between a red kite and black kite has occurred in the UK. The two young successfully fledged.

"It has only occurred a couple of times on the continent where both species occur commonly, but never in the British Isles where the black kite is an extreme rarity and where the red kite is an uncommon breeder."

The red kite, once virtually wiped out in Scotland, has been reintroduced over the past 20 years, particularly in areas where it used to be common, including the Highlands, central Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway.

Mr Etheridge said the RSPB usually recorded one or two black kite sightings a year in Scotland. The birds migrate between Africa and countries such as France and Spain, though red kite are resident, he said.

"There are always a few that get lost during migration when they get blown off course by strong winds and end up in places you wouldn't expect."

The male black kite was seen in the Highlands each year from 2002 to 2004, and was spotted with a female red kite in 2005, though they did not breed.

"In 2006 when the black kite turned up in exactly the same location in April and in June it appeared to be mated and was seen carrying food to a nest with a different female red kite from the previous year.

He added: "The black kite male has not been sighted this year as far as I'm aware. We remain optimistic. The bird can be quite elusive when it wants to be."

OSPREY 'AFFAIR' ENDS HAPPILY

SCOTLAND'S most famous bird of prey has laid a second clutch of eggs after her mate unceremoniously evicted others following a dalliance with a rival male.

Wardens at the Loch Garten reserve in the Cairngorms were dismayed after the female osprey known as EJ - who had paired with an old flame called VS - laid four eggs only for them to be destroyed by her regular mate, Henry. He had flown back late from spending the winter in Africa.

But Richard Thaxton, manager of the RSPB site near Aviemore, said: "This is an extraordinary turn of events for the osprey story as a relaid clutch of eggs has only been known once before in Scotland, 25 years ago."

Henry returned to the nest yesterday. Mr Thaxton added: "To our huge relief, he settled down to incubate the egg, clearly knowing this time that it was his."