There has been so much in the news of late about the lack of biodiversity in this country and how much wildlife has been lost due to intensive farming practises.
But it's not all doom and gloom. There have been some great wildlife success stories in the past two decades too.
And the recovery of the population of the red kite has to one of the greatest of these.
This majestic bird was once widespread throughout the country. In the 15 th century it even earned protection by Royal Charter because as a scavenger it helped to clear up the waste that piled up in towns and cities.
But as hygiene arrangements improved, this source of food disappeared. And a combination of widespread persecution and pesticides, such as DDT, brought this bird to extinction in England and Scotland . By 1977 there was thought to be just one female and two males left in mid-Wales.
Legal protection given to all birds of prey in 1954, the ban of DDT in 1984 and reintroduction programs have all contributed to this bird's dramatic comeback.
In 1991, whilst travelling through Mid-Wales on my way to art college, I happened to spot a pair of red kites. At the time the sighting was rare and I can remember feeling especially lucky.
But then later, in the autumn of that year, I saw one close to my parent's farm at Great Givendale, near Pocklington. I rushed home to find my father, who, like myself at the time, would never have expected to see one in this area. But when we returned to the field it had long since gone.
I was taken aback by the way the bird soared on the updrafts and how it used its russet tail as a rudder to help it turn.
Lately red kites have become an increasingly common sight on the Yorkshire Wolds. This follows a successful reintroduction programme that started in England in 1989.
Over a period of several years, more than 90 young birds were released, initially near Inverness and in the Chilterns in Oxfordshire.
These birds were taken as young chicks from wild nests in Spain and Scandinavia . The initial releases were so successful that further projects were set up in other areas – Yorkshire being one of them.
The Yorkshire Red Kite project started in 1999 at Harewood House. Sixty-eight young birds were released from the newly established Chilterns population.
These birds have now drifted across from West Yorkshire to the Wolds and there is now a growing population in places such as Nunburnholme, Kilnwick Percy and Millington .
Recently I went to Nunburnholme and in one winter evening I watched as 20 to 30 red kites flew in to roost.
The way in which this bird has been brought back from the brink of extinction gives me hope for the future of all our wildlife.
This year I am hosting a wildlife festival alongside my summer exhibition in which I hope to celebrate our countryside and safeguard its wildlife for the future.
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Wildlife Diary -
