Kite vs Buzzard

Took my brother and his kids over to see the kites been fed at Gigrin last Thursday. Whilst sat in the hides watching the hundreds of birds diving in for food he expressed amazement at how they never collided. A short time late, whilst heading back home, my mobile went and it was Colin at Gigrin ringing to say they had a kite with a broken wing in the feeding area. It turns out that seconds after we left a kite stooping in for a meal had hit a Buzzard leaving after eating its! Anyone whose ever handled a Buzzard will know that they are a pretty solid bit of raptor! Anyway end result was an unfortunate kite with the outer half of its wing sticking out at not a good angle! Luckily my brother was heading back to Telford so could drop the kite off at Much Wenlock where Megan Morris Jones at Cuan House Wildlife Centre had arranged to get it checked out by her local vets. The bird was x-rayed but, as I had feared, the break was in the carpal joint, and these do not heal without causing permanent stiffening of the wing which renders the bird virtually flightless. Sadly, as our policy is one of no permanent retention, the bird was euthanised immediately .