Sparrowhawk
Suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, there is a whoosh as something disturbs the air as it rushes past and you just catch sight of it as it disappears into the trees. It was gone before you knew it was there. This was my first encounter with a female sparrowhawk. The countryside is where the females like to hunt, staying away from towns and people whereas the males may just visit your garden – if you have birds of interest to them that is.
The picture above is a juvenile male sparrowhawk taken from the hide at RSPB The Loons, Orkney.
The picture on the left of an adult male was taken at home. I was sitting at my computer downloading pictures when I looked out of the window and there he was, just 20 feet away from me. He patiently waited while I grabbed my camera, set up and took some pictures. The sparrows didn’t stay around to greet him though.
My third picture is not good but nothing comes in the way of a good story.
This was actually my first close encounter with a sparrowhawk and first encounters never seem to go well.
We had parked up close to a tall grass bank to shelter from force 7 winds. We soon realised that we were close to a pied wagtail nest but the pied wagtails weren’t bothered. We watched the parents coming and going with food for their chicks but then we got distracted for a few minutes.
There was an almighty curfuffle and we soon realised why. A female sparrowhawk pictured above and left had found a nest and was making off with one of the chicks. I cannot be sure but I think this is one of the pied wagtail chicks.
So above is my action picture, taken through a very dirty windscreen and on the wrong settings.
The sparrowhawk came back about an hour later and had a good look round but didn’t find the nest again. Phew!
