There are buzzards that fly over these fields and our neighbour saw them mating in the large oak tree at the back of our house last year.  There are also sparrow hawks that hover above the field, amazing us with their ability to remain static in the sky and then swoop down into the ridges and furrows searching for prey.

And yesterday we watched the hawk, wondering if he would make off with a field mouse in his beak or talons, just after we had freed a beautiful butterfly from the huge spiders web that had ensnared it on the patio.  We probably should have left it to die but I couldn’t bear to see it flapping its wings and trying to disentangle itself from the fatal mesh.  Once free it was unable to take flight but skimmed along the ground and opened it’s damaged red wings in the afternoon sunshine.  Better to die free than in chains?