I hear a bird strike on the kitchen window from time to time and it is usually caused by a bird fleeing from a sparrowhawk attack. Like all good strikers, the sparrowhawk is experienced enough to anticipate the rebound. When I went to look this time I saw the sparrowhawk swoop down from the tree to below the window. By standing on a chair I could see it had caught a female great spotted woodpecker. A woodpecker is a fair-sized catch (80g) for a male sparrowhawk (150g) and it was putting up a fight. The fight moved towards the next window so I went round to the sitting room. As I approached the window I saw a magpie dive down to attack, perhaps hoping to steal the catch. By the time I reached the window all three birds had gone and all that was left was a few feathers.
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Friday, 5 May 2023
The one that got away
I couldn't be sure what had happened - at best either the woodpecker got away or the sparrowhawk escaped with its prize, or at worst the pirate stole it. Then the next day I saw a tatty-looking female woodpecker on the feeders with a lot of missing feathers so I think this is the same bird. It obviously escaped when the magpie attacked the sparrowhawk.
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