A protected bird of prey has captured soaring through the skies in Hampshire this week.

Daily Echo Camera Club member Melanie Randall snapped this incredible photo of a red kite as it stared down at her camera with a beady eye.

The bird of prey was hunted close to extinction in the UK after previously being considered a threat to domestic pets and game birds.

Hampshire Wildlife Trust said red kites are largely scavengers, mainly eating scraps and small prey like rabbits rather than purely hunting for food.

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The wildlife trust said: "Now a protected species – and following several reintroduction attempts, the number of red kites has recovered and they can be spotted in lots of places across the UK."

Red kites were common in Shakespearean London, where they fed on scraps in the streets and collected rags or stole hung-out washing for nest-building materials.

Shakespeare even referred to this habit in 'The Winter's Tale' when he wrote: 'When the kite builds, look to lesser linen'.

The red kite is a large bird of prey with angled, red wings that are tipped with black and have white patches underneath in the 'hand'.

Hampshire Wildlife Trust said to "listen out for their ‘mewing’ calls" and look for its long, reddish-brown forked tail when trying to identify a red kite.