Fast, efficient and beautiful, the Sparrowhawk

Only the other day I said to someone how I hadn’t seen a Sparrowhawk thus far this year.
Mid evening yesterday, about 7.45pm with light almost gone, I walked out the back door to see something in the corner of my eye.

No more than six feet away was a Sparrowhawk with a Pigeon, having a right meal and determined not to be interrupted by my presence.
After about 10 minutes it took off with the remains of the Pigeon still in it’s mouth.

Low and behold the following morning I was walking back up the Lane after a quick stroll around the field with my Camera and right in the middle of the Lane there it was again, with another Pigeon.
Once more it wasn’t put off with me being there, except it did drag it’s prey over to the Dustbin and continued with it’s meal there.

It’s a hard one this one; one side of you feels sorry for the prey if it be a Pigeon or Blue Tit, but the Sparrowhawk is a magnificent creature and after all, it can’t pop down to the Supermarket to get it’s food, it’s self sufficient, but luckily for it’s survival, a finely tuned Predator.

The good news for the smaller birds around here is there is an ample supply of Pigeons residing in the derelict Windmill and around the Wood opposite, I remember last year when the surrounds of the woods were covered in carcasses and feathers.

One thing I have done to steer them away from the Garden Birds is to place my feeders in such a position that a Sparrowhawk can’t do any low level mor horizontal attacks, which they’re good at.

A beautiful bird.
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