Regular readers of this blog will remember the frequent visits to the garden by a male sparrowhawk last winter which kept me entertained for weeks. Recently I have seen evidence of kills near the feeders so I knew one was about but haven't see the killer - until first thing this morning. When I glanced out of the window this juvenile sparrowhawk was sitting on the hedge about 4m away.
When I saw him it was only just light and he was silhouetted against the sky but I managed to move into a better position for the photos. I was standing at the window but I moved slowly and he didn't seem to see me. I presume he is a he because of his size (females are larger) but he still has juvenile plumage. He was constantly alert, scanning all the small birds flying nearby.
He is obviously a good judge of whether prey is within reach and doesn't want to waste energy. As he sat there, just above the feeder, blue tits and other small birds were flying in to the feeder and diving into the gooseberry bushes when they saw the danger. I could count 10 blue tits and two great tits trapped in the bushes, with the sparrowhawk less than 2m above them.
At one stage he made a strike but was unsuccessful and returned to the hedge. After a few minutes he flew to the fence across the garden but was having difficulty keeping his balance in the strong gusty wind and eventually flew off to try his luck elsewhere. I hope he'll be back.
He looks like he has been hunting well. The gooseberry bush thorns likely protect the smaller birds. I certainly wouldn't want to put a bare hand in there!
ReplyDeleteHe was back this afternoon Florence but again didn't catch anything. The tits know that if they sit in the middle of the bushes and don't panic they are (reasonably) safe. I think the reason they like this feeder is because of the gooseberry bushes. I'll post some more photos soon.
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