In for the kill.

[Wild-Woman]

I was just residing at our dining room table in view of the bird feeder in the garden when suddenly a female chaffinch hit the patio doors and started flapping madly as if wishing to break through them. As I stood up to move forward to the window to see what was panicking it so, from the left from over the fence came a female sparrowhawk at what seemed a hundred miles an hour. It seized the chaffinch, mid flutter and turned away, ducked under the washing line, negotiated the trees and flew to the top of the roof in a nearby house. There it sat, plucking and looking around.

I've not seen a sparrowhawk quite so close as we were probably three feet apart, me one side of the glass. I could clearly see it glance at me as it grabbed the chaffinch.

What a breath-taking experience and what magnificent birds sparrowhawks are. Top predators that mean business, swift, accurate and deadly. Amazing.

Just thought I'd share that one with you all.

[Gatekeeper]

Some years ago a sparrow that was being pursued by a sparrowhawk, crashed into our patio doors. Not missing a trick, the sparrowhawk grabbed it before it hit the ground.

[Farplace]

I was once ask to rescue a concussed blackbird... and the concussed sparrow hawk that was chasing it when they both hit a window. Both made a full recovery.