There’s something magical about sighting the Red Kite - Yorkshire Post Letters

I always enjoy reading Sue Woodcock’s diary in the Rural Supplement of Saturday’s edition of The Yorkshire Post.

Where she gets all her energy from beats me. Her sensitivity to the variety of

landscape and wildlife she encounters round her home in the Wolds and on her Yorkshire travels is a great asset in her writing.

Of particular interest to me are her frequent references to observing the wonderful aerobatics of the, now quite familiar, Red Kite.

In the early 80s, my wife and I, holidayed in Mid-Wales, the last British stronghold of this iconic bird before the multiple introductions, a few years later. We went there expressly to pay our last respects to these survivors. It took us two years before we managed to discover their sanctuary.

One day in late Spring, we sat on an old, oakwood hillside for hours, in the sun, as we observed a pair, busily active over the wood on the opposite valley side. For us, it was an exhilarating and unforgettable experience.

The raptor is now pretty common in the areas, like north Leeds, near the source of its introduction on the Harewood Estate and it spread slowly eastwards but it wasn’t until August 21 that I saw three in the Peak District near Monsal Dale and, strangely, the next sighting was eight months ago when one flew about 60 feet above our house, as I was getting into my car—115 miles away from our first sighting.

How a small world can change. This beautiful bird is still a rarity in the Sheffield region which makes it even more of a delight when one appears.

I wonder if other readers of the Post have had similar experiences in their contacts with nature?