Think I saw a red kite today...

[runningnearbeirut]

... but have never seen one before so I'm not entirely sure. (About the size of a buzzard with a forked tail - in the south of England). Realised that running and bird watching don't really go together as the lane I was running along wasn't very even and I nearly tripped while looking up at the bird rather than where my feet were going.

Managing 5km in just under half an hour quite consistently at the moment - this morning without Laura as my phone was playing up. Guess the wildlife makes it interesting (saw a deer in the same area a few weeks ago), but I think I need to set myself a challenge. Problem with aiming for 10k is that when I'm back near Beirut my 'normal' circuit is about 4.2km, so I guess I'd just have to go round more than once.

[Hidden]

Never seen a buzzard or a kite out on my runs, but plenty of other birds, we've got a friendly heron and a few swans which makes the canal quite interesting.

Then a couple of weeks ago I'm convinced I saw what looked like a big cat in the field next to the road. Might be wrong, but it looked just looked a cheetah or panther or something.... Never seen it since though.

[Hidden]

Sounds like a kite, big, forked tail, wonderfully elegant birds they are too. Making quite a comeback now they are protected. We had a Raven here over winter but I think it's gone higher up the hills now. Big birds are making a comeback now that they are protected, which is good.

And it probably was a big cat - they are quite widespread nowadays apparently- but because they are so elusive everyone tends to meet with derision when they say they've seen something. Just because they don't get reported as being caught, doesn't mean they aren't there! They do pose a potential danger but usually run off rather than face off. I've seen a Puma (aka mountain lion/cougar) before, it was a bit scary as it didn't run away - just stood there staring at me and the kids, lashing its tail. If you ever come across one, don't stare it out, but make yourself big and noisy. And definitely don't ever run away from it!

[wilmacgh Graduate]

Not sure where in southern England you were but we were driving north from Winchester to Oxford on the A34 and must have seen about 20, much more than I had noticed in previuos years. Spectacular birds and great to see the numbers rising.

[NineChooks Graduate]

I live in Sussex and we see these regularly now