Mrs Downs Diary

But no. John is fortunately not tuned into shopping so is easily hoodwinked by the simple ruse of letting new clothes lie around in a heap for a day or two before I wear them. Then when the time comes to actually to put the stuff on, he '“ so the theory goes '“ has subliminally accepted their presence in my wardrobe. That's what I think anyway. He probably knows all the time and just goes along with the game.

But what he had really not seen before was a red kite flying over the tractor. Not a kite kite. But a bird kite. With forked tail, the lot. He was very excited. Not too thrilled about what it might mean to the game bird population, but willing to admire the bird in its own right and applaud the fact that it is reinstall itself back in the countryside.

The bird may have been attracted by the exposed field, rapidly clearing of grass for the silage contractors. The gang have arrived today and its just go, go, go. Three fields to clear and a huge mound to fill the silage pit. The forecast was dreadful but miraculously the rain held off for most of the day and there was only one brief stoppage whilst the storm blew over. The grass is covered up tonight and tomorrow will be spent compacting the mound and sealing it.

John was fascinated by the kites flight. It circled the tractor for a long time. "It must have been over a field that was being cleared before" he said. "Often when you are cutting you might catch a leveret in the mower and the kites feed mainly on carrion." Although kites have been persecuted they do not offer a threat as such to game birds, but they do unsettle and frighten them as they are very similar, from a partridge or pheasant's point of view '“ so a game bird told me- to a buzzard. But bigger. When game birds are just hatched they are tiny, and if the chicks scatter because of a supposed predator, they are facing one more risk than they need to, to survive.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette June 20