Country diary: there's a buzzard in the air

Airedale, West Yorkshire: Up close, one of these great birds of prey will always stop you in your tracksLook up, we're told. When confined by walls, fences, buildings, when confounded by civilisation, look up and feel your heart lift.The other day I looked up and saw an air ambulance in descent overhead, sunlit and cowslip-yellow, its downdrafts hammering the roofs of our mill town. I held my binoculars on it for a while - then noticed, beyond it, like a tiny smut on the lens, a buzzard, working a wide curve on the brink of sight. Continue reading...