Mylander Issue 87

29 From inside the community I may have mentioned last year seeing four buzzards in acrobatic display and that I saw the red kite soar, twisting its unmistakable tail to turn and rise on the thermals. Smaller birds of prey are peregrine falcons, a pair of which have nested and successfully raised young from Jumbo the water tower for several years now. The pair were seen from Myland last year out this way searching for food I presume. The Jesuit Priest and Poet Gerard Manley Hopkins called the kestrel the ‘windhover’ and this is exactly what they do, hover. I came across one on the path from Braiswick Lane down to Bergholt Road when it was grass and silent underfoot. The Kestrel hung in the air a few yards ahead of me with fixed gaze on whatever it had sensed was in the grass below. No need for binoculars, a happy few minutes of just we two in shared space and time. Finally I must mention the sparrowhawk that frequents our garden. Brazen enough to perch on the summerhouse roof in still, statuesque splendour. We discovered it sits too in the larger apple tree, still and silent, ever watchful it did not stir until we were just a few feet from its perch. All of these are skilful hunters, effective killers but also athletic, elegant and beautiful. Pete Hewitt

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