Watching the birds outside is one of the pleasures I enjoy at breakfast. Two things particularly caught my eye today. First was to see the hawthorn tree at the end of the garden serving as a perch for a flock of Redwings. I can’t remember seeing Redwings in the past but there have been a lot around in the area this year. This morning was their strongest show from our window theatre although they still haven’t yet come down into the garden itself.

The other treat was while I was following the Red Kite that has become quite a regular visitor to the skies over our neighbourhood. As I watched, it fumbled and dropped something from its claws and then dived twenty feet or more to catch it in mid-air. Every time I see them, I am reminded of Gerard Manley Hopkin’s soaring poem The Windhover:

I caught this morning morning’s minion, kingdom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon…

What a great way to start the day.