Galloway Red Kite Trail

An exciting new birdwatching opportunity to view spectacular red kites in lovely scenery is now attracting the attention of walkers, cyclists, wildlife lovers and birdwatchers in Dumfries and Galloway and from much further afield.

After centuries of persecution, which caused the extinction of the red kite in England and Scotland and a dramatic population crash in Wales, new figures show that the numbers of this charismatic bird of prey have reached their highest levels in around 150 years.

2001 saw the beginning of a project to restore Red Kites as a breeding species in Dumfries and Galloway after an absence of well over 100 years. The result of a partnership between the RSPB, Scottish Natural Heritage, Forest Enterprise, Dumfries and Galloway Raptor Study Group and local land-owners, the partnership has released 90 kites over three years in order to establish a breeding population in the region. This Year, 2003, a chick succcessfully fledged in Galloway for the first time since around 1870.

The 'Galloway Kite Trail' was launched on the 6th of October 2003, a feeding station plus other interpretation points provide an excellent opportunity to view these special birds at close quarters