A Sky Full of Kites: A Rewilding Story

by Tom Bowser

Overview

Shortlisted for the Saltire Society First Book of the Year Award

Red kites were once Britain's most common bird of prey. By the early 1900s they'd been wiped out in Scotland and England following centuries of ruthless persecution. When some reintroduced kites began roosting on their 1,400-acre farm at Argaty in Perthshire, Tom Bowser's parents, Lynn and Niall, decided to turn their estate into a safe haven. They began feeding the birds and invited the world to come and see them, learn about them and fall in love with them.

A Sky Full of Kites is the story of the Argaty Red Kite project, and the re-establishing of these magnificent raptors to Scotland, but it is also much more than that. Ill at ease with the traditional rural values of livestock farming, Lynn and Niall's son Tom, who returned to work on the farm after a career in journalism, reveals his passion for nature and his desire to dedicate his family's land to conservation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781788852852
Publisher:	Birlinn, Limited
Publication date:	08/03/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	265
File size:	14 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Tom Bowser grew up on his parents' Perthshire farm. After university he worked as a teacher and then as a journalist before returning to Argaty in 2009. In 2017 he took over the running of the conservation project Argaty Red Kites, and in 2018 launched the Argaty Red Squirrels project.

Tom Bowser grew up on his parents’ Perthshire farm. After university he worked as a teacher and then as a journalist before returning to Argaty in 2009. In 2017 he took over the running of the conservation project Argaty Red Kites, and in 2018 launched the Argaty Red Squirrels project.

Table of Contents

Map of Argaty 9

Foreword 11

Preface 13

Introduction 19

New Beginnings

1 Argaty 31

2 Into the Woods 43

3 Opportunities 52

4 Unexpected Visitors 63

5 Changing Days 71

6 Impasse 78

Breaking Through

7 New Year 85

8 To Kill a Killing Bird 95

9 Breakthrough 106

10 Squirrels 114

11 Spring 120

12 Nesting Season 126

13 The Greedy Gled Fallacy 134

14 This Is the Life 145

15 The Missing Pieces 152

16 A Pleasant Blur 163

What Next?

17 Winning? 173

18 Winter Roost 182

19 Losses 186

20 A Turning Point 196

21 A Fresh Approach 201

22 Ospreys 209

23 Gill 213

24 Back to the Woods 219

25 Answered and Unanswered Prayers 227

26 A Sign of Things to Come 234

Epilogue 241

Postscript 248

Thanks 252

Select Reading 255

Editorial Reviews

This book has plenty to tell us about the birds… many of the best bits of this book are the historical references and the brief history of kites in literature and history'

Scotland on Sunday

A wonderful book'

BBC TV's Landward - Euan McIlwraith

Imbued with the author's passion for nature, and his desire to dedicate his family's land to conservation'

The Bookseller

The story of how a farm was turned into a private wildlife reserve….hopefully more farmers will start to see wildlife as an asset, as this farm did'

Birdwatcher Magazine

An inspirational real-life story'

Scots Magazine

An environmental story that gives hope, a story of a bird that was extinct doing really well on an estate that’s trying to promote a different way of doing things'

Dundee Courier