Giant red kite artwork a Baltic Square

Jun 22 2009 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

A HUGE bird of prey stopped visitors in their tracks on the Tyneside riverfront at the weekend.

In the wild, the red kite has a wingspan of 5ft, but this version was five times that size.

It was created by 150 people at Baltic Square on Gateshead Quayside each holding up a painted plastic tile to produce the image of a red kite.

After producing a static image of the bird, they entertained visitors to the Baltic by trying a red kite Mexican wave.

The event, organised by the Northern Kites project, was to mark the part played by many organisations and individuals in re-introducing the bird to the North East after an absence of more than 150 years.

The five-year project, now in its final stages, has released more than 90 young birds in Gateshead’s Derwent Valley, on the edge of the Tyneside conurbation.

They are now starting to slowly spread, with the birds raising 22 chicks in the wild last year – twice the 2007 total.

The weekend event heard how the kites have also benefited the local economy, generating £1.72m in spending so far, with spin offs such as a book, a red kite trail, a red kite beer by Wylam Brewery and Go North East’s branded red kite buses which serve the Derwent Valley from the MetroCentre.

More than 100 schools have also adopted a red kite and volunteers have put in 15,000 hours of work.

It is estimated that 58,000 people have had direct contact with the project so far.