some kind of bird of pray!!

[mountainbiker]

hello i live in the bolton area nw england, I went for a ride on what used to be an open cast mine the coal board have filled it in and made loads of little ponds most of which are full of bullrushes, within these bullrushes were loads of little (i think they were some kind of finch or maybe a tit) then as i rode towards one of the ponds a medium sized almost black bird smaller than a kestrel swooped down and almost picked off one of the finches then chased another one...what was it do we have sparrow hawkes on bolton near a small town? was it a perigrine?
any ideas? think it had rounded wings with a little tip on the leading edge of the wings and a skinny tail


thanks, leon


.....see not all mountain bikers are just out to destroy the land!!

[Tursiops2]

Hi mountainbiker, welcome to WAB.
Sparrowhawk is the best candidate - the males are slightly smaller than kestrel, a slate-grey colour which can look quite dark in the right light, the hunting behaviour you describe is typical, the habitat sounds good, and they're quite common now in urban fringes. Other (unlikely) possibilities would be Hobby or Merlin.
T2

[dunlin]

Most probably a male sparrowhawk, and yes you do have them in Bolton
have a trip round the woodland at rivington and anglezarke, Its not to far from you and theres plenty sparrowhawks round there
also peregrines in darwin near the big square factory chimney (dont know what its called)

keep on biking

regards mark..........

[Picidae]

Well I suppose we could go through the whole gamut of small BOP as T2 has done. However your description could fit several species. Size is deceptive. In fact, most people over estimate size of BOPs at a distance but tend to underestimate the size at close range when they are hunting. Male Merlin and Hobbies can look very dark grey almost black in flight as do Peregrine. Both Merlin and Hobby both hunt small birds as do Peregrine and Sparrowhawk (although Merlin really are very small (thrush sized) with exceptionally pointed wings. Hobby frequently will hunt for dragonflies low over reed beds (unlike Sparrowhawk) and that, on habitat alone, would be my first guess - they will also chase birds if the opportunity arises during the course of hunting dragonflies over reeds and tend to swoop 'out of nowhere'. The flight then is more leisurely with wing tips appearing blunter and it's not unusual to then see them give a prolonged chase up into the air. (The hunting behaviour is typical of most of the species mentioned btw - most of them swoop down and pick off small birds!)

[ChrisJB]

Male sparrowhawk for me.

Regards, Chris

[mountainbiker]

Originally Posted by dunlin

Most probably a male sparrowhawk, and yes you do have them in Bolton
have a trip round the woodland at rivington and anglezarke, Its not to far from you and theres plenty sparrowhawks round there
also peregrines in darwin near the big square factory chimney (dont know what its called)

keep on biking

regards mark..........

i go up rivvy and anglezarke a lot biking, the only reason i noticed this bop is cos it was so close and so near to home, and it didn't swoop down it swooped up it seem to come out of the bullrushes, was still nice to see 1/4 mile from home!!

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by ChrisJB

Male sparrowhawk for me.

Regards, Chris

So how are you ruling out a Hobby? Given the reed bed habitat and it's also a summer visitor in the Bolton area?

Bolton Museums - Peregrines nesting in Town Hall clock tower leave an egg for the museum collection

[aeshna5]

I would also say male Sparrowhawk (though not possible to be 100% without photo) on the size ( though not always easy to evaluate, especially for relatively inexperienced observers), but the rounded wings to me also suggests Sparrowhawk( not a feature I would associate with Hobby, which I see regularly where I live).

Both species are equally likely in the habitat seen.

[Tursiops2]

Originally Posted by Picidae

So how are you ruling out a Hobby? Given the reed bed habitat and it's also a summer visitor in the Bolton area?

Mountainbiker mentions "rounded wings", which suggests Sparrowhawk. Must admit, though, I hadn't realised Hobbies had got so far into the NW. Doing well, aren't they? Lovely birds, good job they don't take pigeons

[Mark3]

Sounds like a male Sparrowhawk to me, but im no expert

Dunlin - The big square factory chimney in Darwen is India mill