On a bright sunny Boxing Day afternoon, we went for a walk to a local high point in the countryside. Despite the sun, it was bitterly cold with a strong wind taking several degrees off the already low single figure temperatures.

As we got to a viewpoint we were faced with a sight of at least 16 red kites playing in the wind as it raced across the rolling fields. They soared, swooped and whirled around each other, diving towards the ground and back up to above the height of the low hills. At times they seemed to be playing with together but they also went off on their own to explore the fields before coming back into the group.

The cold wind soon drove us back into the shelter of the hedgelines and we left the kites behind, continuing to play in the wind.