Red kite returns to the North after 100 years after 100-year absence

A RED KITE flying to freedom, one of six released yesterday more than 100 years after breeding pairs became extinct in England and Scotland. The birds of prey were set free from the Harewood estate near Leeds as part of the Yorkshire Red Kite Project, in the hope that they will colonise an old haunt. They were fitted with radio transmitters and coloured wing tags. The birds had died out in England and Scotland by the late 19th century, although a few remained in Wales. They have been reintroduced gradually since 1989.

Photograph: Charles Knight