Friday 1st April (Fooled by the Weatherman)


Mr. Kite looked out of his bedroom window into a grey cloudy morning. The buds on the Lime trees were larger and almost bursting into leaves. Mr. Kite had a plan for today. The weather would be warm and sunny, according to the weatherman, just after lunch time. So Mr. Kite thought he would cycle to the Devil's Chair, sit in the sun and watch Red Grouse.

At eleven thirty Mr. Kite set out on his trip. The wind was strong so Mr. Kite pedaled and pedaled and pedaled. In the gale a few birds whizzed past him as he struggled to keep going. Every metre was a battle with the wind but Mr. Kite knew that soon the sun would appear and he would be bird-watching and sun-bathing.

But the clouds stayed grey, the sun did not appear and the air was cold. After seventeen miles Mr. Kite reached the spot where he intended to leave The Beast and walk to the rocks and relax, but the wind was gale force and Mr. Kite was not appropriately dressed; he was freezing.

At this point the wind was now behind him so he decided to return home under wind power. With skill and desperation Mr. Kite was blown towards home. Ravens croaked, a few Pheasants walked into the path of the speeding Mr. Kite. Now Mr. Kite did see one very exciting bird. Whizzing past a small tree on the moorland Mr. Kite noticed a silhouette in the tree. With Mr. Kite approaching the bird fluttered it's patterned wings; they were brown and red striped or speckled against a white back ground. This was a Merlin; a small swift and agile hunter. The bird dropped out of the tree and glided powerfully just above the ground. It's back was brown, it's wings pointed and it's tailed had five black bars. In a super glide with no flapping the bird clung to the contour of the hill and then dropped into the valley and out of sight.

To cut a long story short Mr. Kite soon reached home without much effort and sat by the fire and drank a tipple of Adnams Gunhill Full Flavoured Beer. Cheers from a wind swept and disheveled Mr. Kite