The adult sparrowhawk has been here several times in the past week or so but most of the time the view has been like this.
We have had a lot of rain in the past few days and the wind has been from the north so my sparrowhawk window has been smeared with rain. When it stops raining I clean the window and the view improves.
It is a strange optical illusion that when he sits with his back to me he looks much larger.
The behaviour of this mature bird is interesting compared when with the previous juveniles. He takes very little interest in the small birds trapped in the gooseberry bushes but instead sits watching for potential prey coming in towards the feeder. When he makes an attack he usually doesn't return but I can't tell if that means he has made a kill or has gone off to hunt elsewhere. I haven't seen him eat a kill near the window but I have seen signs of kills in other parts of the garden. I have also seen him fly to the perch and start wiping his beak which usually means he has just eaten.
This short video shows how he usually is on the perch. It is interesting to watch his eyes (easier in real life than on the video) as they swivel and accommodate as he tracks the flights of potential prey.
Here he sets off on another attack.
I have seen less of the juvenile bird but there probably isn't much he can do if the older bird is here.
I spent an amazing hour watching the otter family earlier this week, a more exciting activity than setting the trail cameras. They aren't often seen in daylight and I haven't been able to spend much time there recently so I feel very privileged. The first to turn up was the mother and she soon caught a fish and took it off out of view, presumably to give to one of the pups.
Both pups were around but they weren't staying close to mum so I couldn't get all three, or even two, in one shot. The otters stayed at the far side of the pool and were often hunting in the reeds which made getting a good view difficult.
Then mother caught another fish and again carried it out of view.
A minute or so later she was followed by one of the pups, also carrying a fish. As the fish was uneaten I think this was one it had caught itself, rather than one it had been given by the mother. If so, I am impressed it can catch its own fish at (we think) seven months of age.
The last we saw was a disappearing trail of bubbles. It was a very exciting morning.
After last week's rat videos, I have also had some success using the new high tech(!) Poundland close focus adapter. Judging by the marks I think this is the mother otter although, if so, her injuries are very well healed compared with a few weeks ago. These are frame grabs from the video, illustrating the big improvement in close focus.
This clip was the only otter video of the night with no sign of the pups, perhaps no surprise as they were no longer close behind mum when I saw them in the water. I expect they are getting more confident and more adventurous.
I have been experimenting. One of the limitations of most trail cameras is their inability to focus closer than about 2m. Often the otters are closer to the camera than that and are consequently out of focus. I had already adapted the Browning cameras I use with a rain hood made from flexible plastic covered with camouflaged gaffer tape.
To allow closer focus I have now also fitted them with high tech close focus lenses, using a lens from +1.25 dioptre reading glasses from the pound shop.
And it seems to work well. Although I have managed a few brief otter pictures the main problem so far has been getting the otter into the right place facing the right way as the field of view is necessarily now restricted. In the meantime I have managed some great rat footage. These are frame grabs from video.
Rats are not my favourite animals and they are a real nuisance in the reedbeds as they often steal the sardines before the otter(s) turn up. However, they are intelligent resourceful animals and are part of the great scheme of things. I have seen them pretty much wherever I have tried to find otters so there are plenty of them about - on a bad night I can end up with 150 rat video clips! While I am waiting for better otter footage the rats have at least proved that the close focus works. Not bad for plastic lenses costing 50p each.
This shows how the focus is still pretty good when the rat is fairly close to the camera.
Watch this video right to the end.
I also got a brief glimpse of a tawny owl but unfortunately it was very close to the camera and out of focus. The reaction time of the camera is said to be around 0.5s and the owl was gone after 2s so it was a very quick strike.
The owl took off very quickly but going frame by frame I can see there is a mouse in its talons. A pity it wasn't a rat.
I'll keep on experimenting and post better otter pictures if I get some.
A combination of poor weather, having friends to stay, and a trip away has meant that I haven't been able to get out with the cameras recently and I have had to rely on the wildlife to come to me. Still it hasn't been too bad, with sparrowhawks making regular visits. I was pleased that both turned up while Sally & Chris were here and both have been here in the past three days. Here is the mature adult bird putting on a show.
Here he is in a wide angle view to show how he sits by the feeder hoping to catch unwary incoming small birds.
And a short bit of video to show what he gets up to. He is continually watching small birds flying about and computing whether it is worth a chase. At the end of the clip he makes an attack and you can see how quickly he decides to strike, literally in the blink of an eye. There is no sound from outside because the window is closed and normally I suppress the soundtrack. On this occasion a piece by Philip Glass was playing in the background and was picked up by the camera. As it sounds fairly menacing I decided to leave it in. See what you think.
The attack failed and a couple of seconds later he was on top of the hedge, looking fierce,
before coming back to the perch.
Only one sparrowhawk appears at a time and I haven't seen any interaction between them. I guess the adult bird would be dominant and take precedence, and he has certainly been around more in the past couple of weeks. The juvenile bird was here just before dusk on a grey afternoon this week so the pictures are a bit grainy (ISO 12800). On this occasion the window was open and yet he didn't react to the sound of the camera shutter.
My hope is that this will be the best winter yet for watching sparrowhawks. This is already the earliest they have arrived and the only time so far that I have regularly seen two males. I hope they both stick around.
