Haven't I seen you somewhere before?

Once again I was caught by surprise.  I knew there was a sparrowhawk about because in the past few weeks I have been finding greenfinch and goldfinch feathers where he has made kills.  Two days ago I was about to go into the kitchen garden when suddenly there he was on the perch.  Each winter this window is set up as a hide with a rest for two cameras but this time I hadn't even cleaned the glass.  I went to fetch a camera and when I returned he was still there.  So I moved slowly into a position where I could get a photo.

It was amazing to be standing in full view of this bird only 3m away but I suppose he can't easily see past the reflections in the window and he only reacts to sudden movements.  In the end he stayed for over three hours, the last hour in pouring rain.  He flew off just before dark and I could at last go out to pick the vegetables.  Here he is looking a bit damp in the gloaming.

As soon as he had gone I cleaned the window and reassembled the camera platform inside the window.  First thing yesterday morning he was back on the perch and he stayed for two hours.  Here he is seen through a rain-streaked (but clean!) window.

He was back again in the afternoon, this time trying out a less obvious position at the base of the perch.

And later back on the perch.  I think this photo shows he is growing two new tail feathers (white-tipped and blue whilst most of the old tail feathers are brown).  If I am right this should confirm he is a second year bird.

It is difficult to be sure but I think I may have seen this bird before.  I wrote a post last year about how I thought I might be able to identify individual male sparrowhawks from the dark marks on the cere, the waxy-looking yellow structure at the base of the bill.  This bird has marks on his cere which are similar to those on a pale and scruffy-looking juvenile that turned up in the garden just over a year ago - one that was here for a only few days.  In addition the new sparrowhawk has a transverse nick two thirds of the way down the culmen, the upper ridge of his bill.  The bird last year also had a nick in the culmen, halfway down, but as the bill continues to grow to compensate for wear a nick like this would gradually move down.

If these are the same bird, the new arrival still looks rather pale and scruffy compared with some of the previous birds. He also has a more prominent supercillium (white "eyebrow") than is usual for an adult male, probably because he is only just over a year old.

Here he is compared with the very smart mature adult bird who was here all last winter.

The arrival of a new sparrowhawk has had a profound effect on the birds in the garden.  The  seed in feeder in the kitchen garden normally goes down by about 30-40cm a day.  Yesterday it went down by 2cm and today by about 5cm, even though I haven't seen the sparrowhawk today.  It will be interesting to see if he sticks around.