Following heavy rain, large numbers of crows and jackdaws feed on the meadow at Wimbledon Common, probing for insects.

Suddenly, as one, the birds lift off amid a cacophony of cawing and ‘chacking’. I wonder what has caused the commotion until looking up I spot a common buzzard (pictured) which has appeared high above gliding on outstretched broad wings.

A few crows begin mobbing but the buzzard floats serenely on, probably well used to – and unconcerned about – his tormentors. Only when the big bird has vanished into the blue with scarcely a wingbeat do the birds descend to resume foraging.

As a boy I spent many happy summer holidays in the wilds of Wales where buzzards were commonplace but living in London I had never seen them before.

Who would have thought then that decades later buzzards would spread eastwards even into London suburbs and beyond.

A similar situation applies to the red kite with its diagnostic forked tail. In the late nineteen-fifties only a few of them bred, again in mid-Wales but since then they too have increased their range right across the country.

On any walk in the Surrey countryside it pays to look up every so often as chances are that we will see buzzards and kites either singly or in pairs circling high above. Both species now nest regularly in Surrey.

William Shakespeare would not be amused having voiced contempt for both birds in several of his works....