So there it was, flapping round lazily in the sky, not so very high, above the roundabout where Willow Road meets Cotes Road,
as I was taking my daily lunchtime, lock-down, leg-stretch round the village one bright January day. The come-back king of
birds of prey, the Red Kite was hunted almost to extinction in Britain in former times but has been steadily reintroduced at a
number of sites more recently.
Many birds of prey can be hard to identify.
Not this one though. Once you’ve got your
eye in, you can tell them at a glance, even
some way off. A kite is a bit bigger
than a buzzard, but the give-away
is the silhouette rather than
the size. The main thing to
look for is the forked
tail, as you can see
in the illustration
here.
In contrast, a buzzard’s tail is very
obviously rounded; so unless it’s a long
way off, telling the two apart is pretty
straightforward.
Where had ‘my’ kite come from then?
In Leicestershire they are apparently
commonest in the east of the county,
especially near Rutland Water but are
spreading westwards, although once it
had finished circling over Cotes Road for
a fair few minutes, mine majestically,
if leisurely, flew off northwards towards
East Leake and Prestwold.
So, if your regular walk round the village
is becoming a bit samey, do have a look up
and keep your eyes peeled. You never
know what you might see.
Guy Silk