This afternoon whilst walking my canine guest, I was aware of a number of Red Kites close by. They were unusually vocal and it was difficult to see them all at once.
On returning home I could see that four of them had settled in a big Ash tree in the paddock at the bottom of the back garden.
They are birds which were persecuted almost to extinction by Victorian game keepers and a small number in mid-Wales were the only surviving examples of the species in the UK for decades.
In 1989 a re-introduction project was started with chicks brought from Spain and Scandinavia. Since then numbers have increased markedly.
They are not a species inclined to move too far from their breeding grounds but when numbers become too great for the available food they tend to spread out.
The local site for the initial release was the John Paul Getty Estate in South Oxfordshire about twelve miles from here and since then they have slowly spread along the Chilterns escarpment.
We've become used to seeing them in the last few years but to have them perch so close to the house was a privilege. They tend to follow the plough and upwards of twenty can be seen in such circumstances.
As my neighbour's back lawn was reduced to the state of a ploughed field by marauding Badgers last night, this might explain their presence.
Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a photo but these two are included by way of illustration.
Magnificent creatures.
Feeding red kites: a view from the Chilterns