A change of tactics

I wrote the other week that this sparrowhawk didn't bother to chase the tits and sparrows that end up corralled in the gooseberry bushes.  Well things have changed and he has now recognised them as worthy of attention - and a potential source of dinner.  Once a few birds are trapped in the gooseberry bushes he spends a lot of effort trying to scare them out.  Sometimes he attacks from his normal perch

but more often now he sits on top of the feeder and dives directly down.

Usually he makes one or two circuits and ends up back on one of the perches.  Sometimes he lands on top of the gooseberries and occasionally chases right into the bushes if he thinks the risk is worth taking,

which it sometimes is.

At other times he sits below the bushes, staring up at the birds

or watching for approaching newcomers.

It interesting that when he sits high up with his back to me he looks quite big

but when he turns round to face me he seems small.  I think this is mainly an optical illusion, partly because nearly half of his length is wings and tail.

He also looks smaller on the ground, even though he is a bit closer to the window.

Here is a view from the prey's point of view.  Blue tits are hiding in the branches, bottom left, not daring to make a dash to safety elsewhere and the sparrowhawk is on his perch keeping an eye on them, top right, ready to pounce.

All this activity has changed the birds' behaviour.  Before the sparrowhawk arrived this feeder was very popular with finches, dunnocks, etc as well as the usual tits.  Now most of the birds have abandoned it for the feeders in a more open position on the other side of the house.  Finches like to sit and feed on the feeder whereas the tits grab a seed and eat it deep in the (relative) safety of the bushes so they reckon they can still risk this feeder.  I am also saving on bird food.  Normally this feeder would be empty in two days but over the weekend the sparrowhawk was here much of the time and it only went down by 2 or 3cm.  He is distracting me a lot at the moment so expect more photos in coming days.