Have i finally captured our sparrowhawk ?

[Steve_In_Cheshire]

After months and months of finding circles of feathers on our lawn from what looks like bird kills and the garden being a lot quieter than normal, have i found the culprit .... I once spotted what what looked like a sparrowhawk on on occasion in the past but ive never been able to capture it on camera.

Is he or she a sparrow hawk ? The pics were taken about 40ft away through a double glazed window so they won`t be pin sharp, i didn`t want to risk disturbing the bird as he or she looked content and comfy and it was a good chance to get some distance pics.

[Wild-Woman]

That's a male sparrowhawk. A great set of images too.

[NickCantle]

Definitely a Sprawk! Unsure of sex though

[big bill]

Nice image of a male Sparrow hawk females are a lot paler males have a more brownish ting to the chest

[Dutchess]

Oh yes indeed! Well done for "catching" him, Steve! He does look at home, stretching his leg out all casually like that

Thanks for sharing (I'm jealous )

D.

[earthdragon64]

I've often seen one in my garden in the same sort of pose on a fence. If you have bushes or shrubs below the fence where small birds hide, you sometimes see the Sparrowhawk drop down off the fence, trying to catch one unawares. At least my regular visitor does, occasionally he's successful as well.

[Steve_In_Cheshire]

Thanks for the ID, yeh i do feel honoured to see such a great bird sat on our fence.

A few months back it was frustrating in some ways that a lot of our garden birds were being killed but over time you learn its just nature at work and you appreciate the sparrowhawk for what it is, i was observing him for a good 20 mins today and they don`t miss a trick, i couldn`t believe the speed that his head moved when a bird flew over, they are so alert its untrue. This has been quite a few months now that ive been after spotting this bird, i knew he was around but they can be so elusive.

I`m fairly sure we have another one in the area, possibly a female as ive heard screetch type calls coming from the trees and i`m fairly sure i heard another one screetch back from a different part of the area.

It made my day to be honest, its that feeling when you say finally ive spotted him and got him on camera.

They are a stunning looking bird, from a distance i thought it was one of our wood pigeons sat on the fence as it was about 40 ft away where he was and it does look like a pigeon from that distance until you spott the yellow hooked beak and feet lol .... Something just made me grab the binoculars

[k4t3]

Fabulous pics, my sparrowhawk never stays still that long for me to get photos...a streak of grey, a few feathers and he's gone!

[Dutchess]

They are stunning to see up close. Unfortunately the only time I had the opportunity was when I saw a male clipped by car a little way in front of me. I stopped and went to see if the bird was still alive, but alas, he was dead. Fully intact, not bleeding or squashed, but he was a gonner

I was speechless at the beauty of the bird which I held, still warm, in my hand. I was willing it to revive itself, but of course it couldn't. I didn't want to just leave it there, so I brought it home and took some pictures of it (I did investigate taxidermists, but it was a minefield, fraught with red tape - and very expensive to boot! ) When I eventually learn to upload pictures to WAB I would like to put them in the image library.......

D.

[richnfamous]

Nice pics of a nice bird! I love sparrowhawks, especially the way they can fly at full tilt throught dense woodland. It always sends a shiver down my spine when I see them on the hunt.

Just remember that by attracting songbirds, you've made a 'sparrowhawk feeder' too...that's the way of nature. If you keep an eye on the songbirds, when they all dart as one for cover, you can usually see the 'sprawk' soon after.