A project to introduce a rare bird of prey back into the skies of north-east England has been more successful than first thought.
The Northern Kites scheme was started in 2004 to restore a breeding
population of Red Kites to the region.
Since then 94 of the birds have been released into Gateshead's Derwent Valley
and four pairs nested in the area in 2006, raising three chicks.
A fifth nest, with two chicks, has now been discovered in Teesdale.
David Hirst, of the RSPB, said: "The news of our Northern Kites just gets better
and better.
"We were very pleased that one chick had successfully flown from the Derwent
Valley nest, but now we know that we actually had five nests and three young
'home-grown' red kites this year and that's just fantastic news.
"No-one expected the project to be so successful in such a short space of time."
It is hoped that more kites will nest successfully next year and the population
will soon become self-sustaining.
The birds were formerly widespread and common in the UK, but human persecution
led to their extinction in England and Scotland in the mid to late-1800s.
Colonies now exist in the Rockingham Forest area of the Midlands, in central
Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway.