There are few sites in the British countryside more arresting than a bird of prey on the wing. It may simply be an emotional reaction to the perfection of the design, the absolute fitness for purpose. Or it may be something more primitive, something in our genes that tugs us back to the days, tens of thousands of years ago, when a shadow passing overhead meant danger. Whatever the case, I have the extreme privilege of being able to briefly watch a pair of red kites working the thermals above junction 2 on the M40 each morning as I near the end of my journey to work and again as I set off for home in the evening.
Red kites are quite large birds – you'd be forgiven for thinking you were looking at a buzzard. But once you know how to identify them, there is no mistaking them. The wingspan of the adult is typically between five and six feet. They have a distinctive forked tail, although when the bird is manoeuvring it can be harder to spot. The slow flight and lethargic looking movement also distinguish it from buzzards as do the wingtips, which slope backwards. The breast and under-parts are reddish brown (known as rufous) and darkly streaked. If a red kite catches the sun, there is no missing the colouration. The wings have white 'windows' underneath which are the primary feathers. These are also black at the tip. The tail is rufous too but paler and duller on the under-parts.
Why are these impressive bird so easy to spot whilst driving along the M40? About fifteen years ago a project between the RSPB and the Nature Conservancy Council was set up to try to restore the red kite to the British Isles by importing captive hatchlings from a successful and closely related population of red kites in Spain. Released along the Chiltern escarpment between Aylesbury and High Wycombe, the result has been massively successful. Red kites are generally slow moving when hunting, so unlike some birds they are easy to see from distance (from your car say) and tend not to move too far as you approach. This makes them easy to observe even without having to risk taking your eyes from the road. In fact, it was their slow flight, and their general lack of fear of humans, that made them easy to hunt and exterminate in the 18th and 19th centuries.
And why do they stick so close to the motorway? Red kites like carrion. In the 16th and 17th centuries they were to be found in most big cities nesting in church towers waiting to fight with the carrion crows and ravens to pick up whatever waste they could find. Road-kill has become a very natural source of food for them.
So if you are planning to visit the Midas Design Consultants office, it may be easier to get to us by tube from central London than to drive, but you'll miss this very special site.
Reference: to find out more about these lovely birds I'd point you to RedKites.net. I also apologise to the experts, I do know that 'birds of prey' is not the preferred term and that I should be using the word 'raptors' instead.