Down , but not out.

This beautiful raptor may have clipped some phone or electricity wires as it flying because I noticed it sitting in the bottom of the hedge, looking dazed. I was reluctant to investigate further, for fear of disturbing it.

The pinky coloured feathers with black markings, with a yellowish, spotted belly, and dark eyes are indicative of its breed - The Kestrel.

Kestrels have been my favourite bird species since first seeing one hovering over a motorway embankment when I was a child, and not knowing what it was - they were pretty rare back then.
Some time after I saw the Ken Loach directed film Kes, staring David Bradley as Billy Casper, the skinny young lad with knicky knacky knees. Wasn't he so scrummy you just wanted to take him home? Oh yes, for me it was love at first sight!

The film Kes, remains one of my favourites to this day. Here are a couple of wonderful clips from the film: The first from towards the end of the film when Billy Casper flies Kes

This is the classic Football lesson which takes place earlier in the film