Kestrel Streatham Common, Black cap Sydenham Hill Woods

"The kestrel hovering by day,

And the little owl that call at night,
Bid him be swift and keen as they,

As keen of ear, as swift of sight."

This was Julian Grenfall's 1915 battle poem, which I'm sure 'H is for Hawk' mentions, I remember, how, as a child, like Helen McDonald, I was fixated on Birds of Prey, but , unlike her, did not have the wit to actually find or fly them. But I couldn't bear the thought of losing them, the section in her book when she and White lose their Hawks is heartbreaking, it reminds me of the time my dog Trowbridge ran off from her lead on the common and into the middle of Streatham High road, it was streaming with traffic. there was something edible in the road which drew her right into it. I just held my head in my hands helplessly as somehow she dodged the traffic, and came back to me safely.