A villager was out walking with her family when she found two of the dead birds of prey. She said her examination of the birds suggested they had been shot.

She took a photograph of the birds and had planned to return to the spot to collect the bodies on Monday, but they had disappeared overnight.

The body of a third red kite was discovered by another walker and she put it in a safe location where it was later recovered by wildlife broadcaster and author Iolo Williams and his sons on Sunday night.

He had the body x-rayed by veterinary surgeons in Montgomery who discovered that it had been killed by a shotgun.

Source: Shropshire Star

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