Ballyclare Cubs adopt Red Kite

Members of 1st Ballyclare Cub Pack experience a wide and varied programme of activities thanks to the planning and commitment given by the voluntary leaders, led by Cub Scout Leader Mrs Nuala McComb. And this month the Cubs learned how to look after themselves by improving their skills in map reading and also showed their ‘green’ side by learning about the conservation work of the RSPB.

Adam McClure and Jen Banks from the RSPB visited the Cub Pack to show the Cubs the work the RSPB is doing to reintroduce the Red Kite to Northern Ireland and to thank the Cubs for raising money to adopt and name their own Red Kite.

Naming the Kite was easy for the Cubs. They referred to the Book written by Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Jungle Book’, and picked the name Kipling had given to the Kite in his story: ‘Chil’.

Red Kites are thought to have last bred in Northern Ireland around the middle of the 18th century. But since 2008, in partnership with the Welsh Kite Trust, the RSPB has released 53 birds in the province. And the release scheme is already showing success.

In 2010, for the first time in over 200 years, Red Kites were raised in nests in Co Down, while last year eight chicks were reared in five nests in the same county.

Any group or school interested in adopting a Red Kite can make enquiries to the RSPB by emailing [email protected]

More information about the work and activities of the Scout Movement in East Antrim can be found online at www.greenseas.org.uk