‘A red kite stole my mother-in-law’s sausage rolls’

John Oxenham saw the widely shared photos of the bird of prey clutching the baked snack and knew immediately where they’d come from.

The 67-year-old explained that he often leaves food scraps in his and wife Samantha Frewin’s garden in South Newington, and recognised the kite that took them.

Having visited Mrs Frewin’s mother, June, at her home in Kent on Mother’s Day, they returned home with a tub of her homemade sausage rolls.

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John Oxenham and Samantha Frewin, with Mrs Frewin’s mother, June. (Image: Samantha Frewin / SWNS)

Two days later, Mr Oxenham left some of the baked goods out in the garden for the birds.

Then, after arriving in Cornwall for a getaway the following day, the couple came across photos of the kite clutching a snack that looked ever-so-familiar.

Mr Oxenham, a retired commercial pilot, said: “I’m the culprit who put out the sausage rolls.

“We went down to see Sam’s mum in Kent for Mother’s Day, and she gave us a tub of sausage rolls.

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A red kite with a sausage roll in its talons in the skies above Ruscote, in Banbury. (Image: Mark Hopkins / SWNS)

“I put some out for the birds, and that’s when the kite took the sausage roll.

“My wife showed me the pictures and said: ‘This story about the kite is going mad!’.

“You can see it was my mother-in-law’s – they’re pale in colour.”

Mrs Frewin, 47, said she first noticed the photo being shared on Instagram.

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John Oxenham and Samantha Frewin. (Image: Samantha Frewin / SWNS)

“As soon as I saw the photo, I thought: ‘Oh no… That’s one of my mum’s sausage rolls’,” the retired HMRC worker said.

“Sam showed me the picture,” Mr Oxenham added.

“It was instantly recognisable. I said: ‘That’s our kite with your mum’s sausage roll’.

“I thought I would put the world right on where it came from.

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John Oxenham and Samantha Frewin, with Mrs Frewin’s mother, June. (Image: Samantha Frewin / SWNS)

“I’m just glad he wasn’t photographed with some naan bread in its talons… The ravens love their curry!

“At least the red kite found a nice source of food… What would she rather have, a manky mouse or a nice sausage roll?”

Amateur photographer Mark Hopkins snapped the hungry bird of prey in his garden in Ruscote, in Banbury, when the giant bird soared overhead.

Mark, 57, a welder, said: “There are often kites flying over us, but I’ve never seen this before.

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John Oxenham and Samantha Frewin, with Mrs Frewin’s mother, June. (Image: Samantha Frewin / SWNS)

“There was one huge red kite that banked up in front of me, and it was clearly holding something in its talons.

“I wasn’t sure what it was at first, but looking at the pictures on my camera, it was obvious it was a sausage roll.

“Whether it had snatched it out of someone’s hand or picked it up off the floor, I don’t know, but it did look fresh.

“It was a remarkable thing to see, and I’m just so happy I had my camera ready at the right time.”

There are an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 breeding pairs of red kites in the UK, with increasing numbers living in urban areas.