Restharrow and a Red Kite

I'd been looking out for the Common Restharrow for some time but to my disappointment it hasn't appeared in the usual places. Then today walking up the slope beside the Welcombe Hotel towards the Monument I saw this patch. It's called Restharrow because its strong stems and roots would snag the harrow. That would be in pre-mechanised days of course.

Then we went on to the Monument Field. We're used to the Buzzards so tend to take little notice of them but this large bird of prey that soared up in front of us and wheeled away looked very different. The forked tail was a give-away - Red Kite. I fumbled for my camera - wrong lens was in of course -and managed to take a few clumsy snaps. This was the best of a sorry lot but you can just make out the shape if you enlarge it.

The Red Kite is a common sight around the M4 and the M40 as far as High Wycombe. It's not common this far north.