Above the crooked rooftops, timbered gables, colourful hanging baskets, upmarket restaurants and cobbled streets of Henley-on-Thames, the sky swirls with enormous red kites in ominous flocks.
Birds of prey are terrorising Henley-on-Thames by attacking people and stealing their food.
A two-year-old boy was left with blood pouring from his hand when a huge bird - thought to be a red kite - with 5ft wide wings swooped down to grab his biscuit.
In another attack in the town, a woman was forced to flee indoors when a red kite, with needle-sharp talons, tried to snatch smoked mackerel from her salad.
The attacks in the Oxfordshire town have led to experts pleading with people not to tame the kites - which resemble eagles - by feeding them scraps in back gardens.
Red kite attacks: why birds of prey are causing havoc on the streets of Henley
Once close to extinction, the red kite population of Oxfordshire is now in fine fettle, with birds reportedly preying upon local residents and stealing sausage rolls
A red kite, having presumably spotted a baked camembert. Photograph: Paul Marriott/Rex/Shutterstock
A red kite, having presumably spotted a baked camembert. Photograph: Paul Marriott/Rex/Shutterstock
Tue 25 May 2021 10.06 EDT
Last modified on Wed 26 May 2021 07.17 EDT
Name: Kite attacks.
Appearance: From above, as if out of nowhere.
Are people getting tangled up in the strings, or what? Kite as in bird, not as in kite. We’re talking about the red kite – a bird of prey from the same family as buzzards and harriers – attacking people.
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