We've seen quite a few more Sparrowhawks this past year so far, probably thanks to our bird feeders in the front garden. The dish holder on one of the feeder poles has become a perch for a male!!! Bit worrying.
On June 4th a commotion outside caught my attention.
An absolutely beautiful female Sparrowhawk, sadly, hanging onto a young Starling. I didn't notice the bird in her claws at first.
Spotted me but not perturbed by my presence at all.
I headed for the kitchen door but by the time I got out there, they were both gone.
June 18th I turned to the window to see this.
I sit here maybe six feet from the window, the feeder is probably another fifteen feet from that so, he's really close, for a Sparrowhawk and probably doesn't see me through the window.
You can see that his attention was definitely elsewhere but I know he hadn't caught anything ........ this time.
He's a real beauty and I'm pretty chuffed getting the opportunity to photograph one of these birds so close up.
The next two shots have had almost nothing changed, centred a little, de-noised a little and that's it.
What a beautiful, lethal bird.
Eyes like a hawk?
July 5th, he's back! Could, of course be a completely different bird........
Looks like a few bits of feather in that black but nothing in his claws!
Actually, I've just noticed a few bits of white on the back of his head in both sets above, more than likely is the same bird then, to me anyway. :)
Is he smiling in that one?
There are Bank Voles under the tree out there, wonder if that's what he's waiting for?
I see them flying around the area quite often, passing over / through the garden now and again. By through, I mean low flying at speed!
August 26th, I was passing the doors out to the side of the house, glanced out into the rain ....
Perched on one of the fence posts, in the pouring rain, looks like a young female Sparrowhawk.
It looked absolutely miserable, it had been a very wet day, almost raining constantly.
Look at that face! Does she look totally fed up?
She may actually have been struggling to catch anything in that weather.
I got about a dozen shots through the wet window, needs cleaning too, then tried to open the door carefully. Not a chance, she was off.
That said, she dropped to her left, under the tree, turned gracefully and flew towards the house at grass cutter level, past the patio and down the back of the house. I ran to the kitchen in time to see her hop the front hedge and off down the lane towards the farm. Maybe see her again some time soon.
