Soundlessly, the red kite swoops on the wind. Feathers sleek and wings steady, she hovers for a moment - her burning yellow eyes following something scuttling through the long grass below her. She brings her tail in and instantly veers off towards the hills, soaring high before dipping and spiralling elegantly; seeming to gambol on the breeze. She doesn't want to feed just yet.
The gentle afternoon sunlight bounces off her back; a myriad of shimmering reds and browns as she lifts her head and catches a thermal - flying ever higher into the vast blueness until her shadowless body disappears into the clouds.
Far below her free sky, we sit and watch enviously.
