The Red Kite

By Timothy Bowes

There is a fantastic bird of prey that I have seen circling in the sky in this region repeatedly over recent months. It is one of the most exciting sights I know. Sitting at my work station in the office all day under the buzzing florescent lighting, the sight of one those birds – some with a wingspan four feet wide – instantly delights me. I saw one this afternoon on my return from Jummah prayer. Perhaps I was irritated by another sermon in Urdu or by the thoughtless parking along the road outside the mosque, but the sight of that huge bird made me exclaim alhamdulilah. It was way too big to be a Kestrel or a Buzzard. I wondered if it was a Hawk or a Falcon. Back at my desk, I had to ask. And thus I learned that it was a Red Kite. Once driven to extinction in this land, they were reintroduced to Buckinghamshire around the turn of the Gregorian millenium as a single mating pair. Now there are hundreds of them. Mashallah – tis always a sight to behold.

This article was posted on Friday, 21st April , 2006 at 6:19 pm and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can add a note to this post, or trackback from your own website. Print This Post
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