Sparrowhawk news

It is a long time since I posted pictures of a sparrowhawk in the garden.  Last winter's bird was a bit of a dead loss because he hunted round the feeders by the kitchen window instead of sitting on the perch in the kitchen garden.  I had seen a new bird around in the garden recently and then I had a very close encounter.  When I went out to the greenhouse he was sitting in the doorway eating a robin and he panicked and flew farther in.  The only way get him out was to go round the outside to the far end.  Here he is looking through the window.

I had time to take a short video on the phone and moments later he realised he could escape and flew out through the door.

Prior to that I had noticed days when the level of seed in the feeder in the kitchen garden didn't drop so I guessed a new sparrowhawk must be around.  And here he is, posing nicely on the perch.

Sitting there was a bit obvious so he also tried hiding low down on the raised beds.

And sometimes sitting high up on the feeder support, although that's even more obvious.

This is a newly independent first year male so he is still learning his trade but there are plenty of small birds in the garden, at least there are when he's not here.

Then a couple of days ago I saw this one - a second year bird.  Sparrowhawks moult into adult plumage at the end of their first year and you can see this one has a mixture of blue and brown feathers.  He has replaced most of his juvenile plumage but the outer tail feathers and some of the body and head feathers are still brown.

And a bonus video of a sparrowhawk that appeared on one of my otter cameras, also a first year bird and probably female as it looks bigger.  I think the call in the background is a buzzard and not another sparrowhawk.