Columnist: Cambridgeshire farmer Anne Marie Hamilton

I had an unnerving experience the other afternoon as I was playing with our young terrier out in the field behind the house when something caught the corner of my eye and made me look up.

To my surprise, a red kite was hovering right overhead. I looked across the field to try and see what had caught his attention when suddenly, he swooped lower and I realised, to my absolute horror, that he was clearly hunting my small dog.

The red kite was hovering overhead. (Image: Anne Marie Hamilton)

Fred was happily dashing erratically over the grass, chasing his ball, blissfully unaware of the deadly menace hovering above.

Our Jack Russell is slightly smaller and lighter than a hare, and clearly, in the eyes of the red kite, would provide a tasty ‘ready meal’ for a hungry bird of prey.

My shout of anger combined with fear must have penetrated the usually distracted canine brain as, for once, Fred abandoned his ball and flew back to me in record time.

I thrust him between me and the fence, to make it impossible for the bird to come down and grab him. With shaking hands, I hastily attached his lead and rushed him back to the safety of the house, using the shrubs and trees for protection along the way.

Once the dog was safe, I went straight back to the field, only to find that, having been deprived of his prey, the kite had gone.

Whilst they may be beautiful and impressive birds to watch in flight, I personally loathe them for their evil cruelty. A couple of days before, I was angry and upset when a kite (probably the same one, as they tend to follow their own ‘beat’) swooped down, seized a defenceless pigeon in his talons, soared up to a tree on the edge of the garden and proceeded to pluck and eat the poor creature whilst it was still alive.

The aggression by the kite towards a domestic animal was both a surprise, and a great concern.

Those keen on reintroducing the species claim that the taking of domestic pets is a myth, but I would now strongly dispute this!