It's a misconception that red kites kill lambs; in reality, these birds are too weak‑footed to take anything larger than a small rabbit.

Every January, gardens across the United Kingdom turn into open-air theatres. The performers arrive uninvited, refuse encores and steal snacks without apology. Welcome to Big Garden Birdwatch—the one weekend when staring out of the window is officially productive.

Organised by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), this event, scheduled for 23–25 January this year, invites people to spend one hour counting birds in their garden, on their balcony or in a local green space. That's the whole brief. Those simple tallies add up, with millions of sightings creating a nationwide snapshot of garden bird numbers. The data helps track long-term trends and flag early warning signs when familiar birds start to disappear.

You might record a robin guarding its patch, a blue tit testing gravity on the feeder or a blackbird hopping about as if it's late for something important. Look up and you might spot a red kite drifting overhead, wings held steady and forked tail steering like a rudder, as seen in today's image. It may not land in your garden, but if it passes over during your hour, it still counts. Once nearly wiped out in the UK, the red kite's return is one of conservation's greatest comeback stories.