Majestic creatures patrolling our road network

A FEW weeks ago I wrote about sparrow hawks and kestrels and I mentioned that the number of kestrels in this country was declining and I hadn’t seen one for several years.

Well, I seem to be in a minority because I’ve had lots of emails and letters from people all around the country who see kestrels on a regular basis.

This is good news. Maybe they haven’t become as rare as I feared. They are very beautiful little falcons and their habit of hovering when they’re hunting, described in the famous poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, is fascinating to watch.