As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Monday, 14 April 2014

Kites 'on the edge of extinction' now back in the skies


Hungry hunter which swooped in on squirrel is now prevalent thanks to Bucks reintroduction programme

Red kites are now a familiar sight in our skies because of a revival programme, as one astonished reader found out.

Lynn Baldwin from Chalfont St Peter was riding in a car's passenger seat when she saw the bird of prey snatch a squirrel from a tree in Bull Lane.

As the hunter flew away with its catch, Mrs Baldwin, of Layters Close, grabbed her camera at the front of the car and snapped the scene on Saturday, April 5.

The birds are usually known to be scavengers but hunt small animals when they are hungry. RSPB officer Nik Shelton congratulates Mrs Baldwin on her quick reactions.

He said: "What a fantastic picture – well done to your reader for capturing this, it looks like a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment. Red kites are normally scavengers – you often see them near busy roads waiting to pick up a roadkill dinner.

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