IT is not quite “nature red in tooth and claw” here at the moment, but it is certainly “nature red in beak and talons.”

We have recently spotted two birds of prey in the environs of the farm, and one of them was very visibly engaged in doing what birds of prey do best. Hunting and killing its victim.

The darkest deed centred on a leveret which John had been taking note of as he checked on the suckler herd during the day. The bold little hare cannot long have been weaned as it seemed to have no fear of being seen in the open.

Young leverets instinctively stay still during the day in a shallow hollow in the ground that conceals them from predators, and wait until their mum returns to feed them.

But our leveret is no more. Yesterday John spotted a red kite, the first one ever on the farm, perched on a fencing post, with the young leveret in its grip.

Now although John was thrilled to see such a magnificent bird of prey, he was not so thrilled to see his pet leveret featuring on the red kite's menu. The red kite must have decided that our leverets were not to his taste, however, as no sighting today of the bird.

The second incident was the scavenging of a water hen's corpse. Now these are fairly numerous around the farm. Indeed they are so familiar with the run of the place that I see them in the fold yard joining in with the poultry when they all raid the bulls feed trough.

Some of the water hens were raised by a small pond in the home paddock. Others have wandered in from surrounding fields when the water hen bush telegraph told them there was an abundance of feed in our barns. But I fear one of their number should have been paying more attention to the Green Cross Code than to its appetite. Wham. Road kill.

Now last year a pair of hobbys successfully reared a couple of chicks and we delighted in their aerial manoeuvrings passing prey to each other such as dragonflies, their favourite food.

They are also partial to small birds such as swallows and martins which they take on the wing. Which is why John was very surprised to see a hobby trying to lift the young water hen's corpse off the roadside verge, presumably to take to its mate for the chick.