Sparrowhawk news

This blog seems to have been taken over by mammals recently so here is an update on the sparrowhawks.  At least one of them is here almost every day, more often the juvenile.  I have never seen both in the garden at the same time but the two photos above were taken only 30 minutes apart.

I haven't witnessed many kills by this winter's juvenile male and although he watches the birds besieged in the gooseberries he doesn't often attack them.  He spends a fair amount of time posing and preening on the sparrowhawk perch and more often attacks and chases birds flying in to the feeder.  If he doesn't return immediately I can't tell if he was successful. 

Here he is preening.

And watching. 

Sometimes his visit is brief, perhaps because he catches something straight away or gets distracted chasing a bird out of the garden.  He also shows his inexperience.  Once I saw him climb into the gooseberry bush and have difficultly getting out without injury, during which time the dunnocks and tits in the bush had all escaped.  He then tried sitting lower down on the main perch, perhaps hoping to be less conspicuous.

Another time he was sat on top of the feeder, not a very subtle ambush.

This juvenile bird is a lot less predictable in where he sits than previous birds so I have to do a lot of checking before it is safe to go out.  If he is on the perch in the kitchen garden there is no problem but sometimes he is on top of the hedge, overlooking the front door.

When I come home I have to check before getting out of the car to see if it is safe to come in.  Here is a distant shot along the drive from the car at the gate.  I waited 20 minutes before he moved.  I must be crazy.

He also sits on the apple cordons against the fence,

or on top of the fence,

or on the gate into the kitchen garden.

I try not to disturb him but if he is in the trees outside the kitchen window there isn't much I can do as it is very hard to see him there before I go out.  To give the small birds a break I put up a feeder opposite the front door, very close to a yew tree to provide cover.  But the sparrowhawk soon spotted it and now he stakes that out as well.

I have seen less of the adult male but he still visits and is very handsome.

Here he is looking fierce.

He also spends time preening.

And sits on the hedge to stop me going out.

I am pretty sure a female bird visits occasionally as well.  I haven't seen her but have seen the remains of wood pigeon kills, which would generally be too big a target for a male bird.