When cycling in the Chilterns I am often accompanied by Birds of Prey soaring majestically overhead. It is fascinating to see them effortlessly gliding in circles, eyes glued to the ground below for prey. Sometimes they fly quite low, just above head height. Very occasionally you hear of Birds of Prey attacking cyclists, but only when a helmet is mistook for a predator.
The numbers of Red Kite have increased quite significantly since they were reintroduced back into the Chilterns, in the 1990s. Sometimes you are making great effort on the bike, and the Red Kite’s above is gliding twice as fast with seemingly no effort.
Red Kite.
I took this with a portable digital camera – with only 3* zoom. But, it did kindly fly relatively low and close to make my photograph a little easier.
Effortlessly soaring on wind currents.
The previous day, the sky was ablaze with Cumulus clouds. If I had stayed out on the bike longer, I could have caught some great sunsets, but it was already below freezing and the fingers seizing up.
For health and safety reasons, I should warn about shooting straight into the sun – be careful of eyes.
Related