“Above her, on top of the lichened pillar, a stone hawk indicated the masters of all this dignity.” (March 1, 1814)

© Jürgen May

Neither of these birds is a hawk, and indeed the stone figure isn’t a bird at all, but a gryphon – “a mythical creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion, typically depicted with pointed ears and with the eagle's legs taking the place of the forelegs” (Oxford English Dictionary). The bird up in the tree is a buzzard. Isn’t it a great picture, though? Someone in my family captured the moment, and I wanted to share it with you.

To bring this back on topic, here's a squirrel-eye view of one of the ancient beeches in the avenue leading up to Hawksfield Manor.