BOOK REVIEWS

The book reviews published in Scottish Birds reflect the views of the named reviewers and not those of the SOC.

When the Kite Builds... WHY and HOW We Restored Red Kites across Britain

Mike Pienkowski, 2023, UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum, Peterborough, ISBN 9781-911097-05-1, hardback, 271 pages, 200+ colour photos, 40+ colour & b/w illustrations and maps, £29.95

The reintroduction of the Red Kite to parts of the United Kingdom is arguably one of the greatest conservation success stories of recent times. It has been estimated there are now around 6,000 breeding pairs, which represents at least 15% of their European and world population.

The experimental reintroduction to England and Scotland was originally a joint programme between the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). At the start of this initiative in 1989, Dr Mike Pienkowski was the NCC Head of Ornithology and Chairman of the Project Team. The idea for the reintroduction to Scotland was stimulated by Roy Dennis. My role for RSPB Scotland was as the first permanent Project Officer to oversee the Scottish reintroduction programme on the Black Isle, Easter Ross, Highland. Subsequent releases in Scotland took place in Stirling (1996), Dumfries and Galloway (2001) and Aberdeen (2007). As a result we currently have an estimated 400–450 breeding pairs in Scotland where they have recolonised much of the range they occupied before their extinction as a breeding species through human persecution around 1870.

Mike Pienkowski is well placed to document how this ground-breaking conservation project emerged and developed. Lessons have been learned on how various obstacles were overcome and best practice approaches that have proved useful for reintroductions or translocations of other raptors in the UK and abroad. Although the main focus of the book is on the Red Kite reintroductions to England, details are also given of the Scottish project. Pienkowski’s access to previously unpublished NCC records of the early deliberations concerning the programme make particularly interesting reading. I recommend this book for any with an interest both in raptor reintroductions in general and as an important historical reference point for Red Kite conservation in particular across the UK and Europe.

Duncan Orr-Ewing

Best days with Shetland’s birds

Andrew Harrop & Rebecca Nason (editors), 2022,The Shetland Times Ltd, Lerwick, ISBN 9781-910-99745-1, paperback, 120 pages, £17.99.

This series of accounts from Shetland residents and migrant birders has it all. Yes, there are mouth-watering accounts of rarities and days full of rare birds, but each story offers more. What we end up reading about is Shetland life and a community that enjoys seeing the birds of these islands. The stories are written with an affection for the local birds and in many cases, a deep personal connection to a place. Quite often the big rarities are a side-line – a product of the hard work and skill that come from such a personal connection to a patch – with just that bit of luck acknowledged for good measure. Enough of this background flows through these bitesize stories to make a much more rounded read than one would get from a simple collection of finders’ accounts of rare birds. The rarities are the envelopes within which these love letters to the islands, the birds, the build-up, the excitement of the find, the panic and the relief of it all are sent. As birders it’s that whole package that we love and these stories capture it all beautifully.

Mark Lewis