Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

The weather has taken a turn for the better. The fields have gone from liquid mud to walkable once more so two days ago Ani and I turned left through the gap in the hedge instead of right into the wood as we have done most of the winter. Wild daffodils are almost ready to flower, the first periwinkles dot the hedgerows with china blue and great drifts of snowdrops fringe the woods. We hadn’t gone far, just up to the little copse, when a familiar shape swooped overhead. I had brought the camera and raised it in what I knew would be yet another futile attempt to catch the grace and beauty of the red kite.

They have been close this past couple of weeks. Very close. They have swooped low over the car, watched from above as we have walked in the mornings and watched from the trees…