Help identifying a bird by behaviour (no pics)

[shadowx]

Long time no post, anyhoo..

I was walking over Belhus woods in essex on Saturday, for anyone who has never heard of the place it's a sort of mixed woodland set around 4 lakes in flat land. One of the lakes is pretty deep the rest are shallow and used mainly by birds like Greebes, a few cormorants and other waterfowl who love the shallow and clear water. But I digress... The real reason I am posting is to ask for help working out what bird I saw,

I was watching a Crested Greebe on one lake and decided to follow another Greebe to an adjacent lake 20 yards or so away, it's a fishing lake so I walked down onto one of the swims on the bank and as I got there I saw a bird fly from right to left across the surface of the lake, only about 4ft or so off the water, if that. At first I thought it was a Kestrel due to size and wing shape but it was a light grey colour on the top of it's wings/back (since it was banking in flight that's the side I could see) I quickly setup my tripod and followed it with my scope, it flew across the lake and then straight for the trees on the bank where it shot up into the air and headed straight for a flock of really tiny birds. I dont know what they were but I would describe them as Bat sized, they really were small. There was about 20 of them and they werent starlings or anything that large. It attacked them on several attempts swooping in, getting them from above and from side on until it flew off and I lost it. A minute later it came back for a swoop or two then vanished for good. I never saw if it grabbed a bird nor any other markings.

Any ideas?

Im sure it was a bird of prey due purely to the fact it attacked the small birds, so going for a BoP I can think of a few culprits: Kestrel, Hobby, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine.

Hobby is the wrong time of year, if this were early autumn I'd say 100% hobby.

Kestrel... Right size, wrong colour and attacking a flock of birds in mid air? Im going to count it out.

Peregrine.. A bit small but could be a young male from this year/last year but wrong habitat, there arent any tall buildings or cliffs around, there are a few pylons and there is a breeding pair at nearby RSPB Rainham Marshes but it attacked from below initially and the most local roosting spot would be a bit far and with plenty of other hunting grounds before Bellhus.

So that leaves a Sparrowhawk, im guessing a male due to the fact the internet tells me they are grey in colour and as usual with BoP a lot smaller than a female and it's habitat and behaviour seems about right.

Can anyone help out? I would love to say I've seen a sparrowhawk hunting but I dont want to kid myself if it's unlikely!

[diggleken]

Hi, sounds like a male Hen Harrier.
Even better!
Cheers
Ken

[FUDGEY]

Male Sparrowhawk for me. Hen Harrier is a lot bigger than a Kestrel. By the colour and behaviour my moneys on the Male sprawk. Merlin a small possibility too.

[tigertom]

Sound like a merlin to if wings looked more like a falcons than a hawk, very typical way of hunting for merlin and being near a marsh sounds about right only ? I have is maybe size
MIKE

[Tobyh]

Merlin perhaps?

*edit* doh - too slow.

[Jonathan]

Originally Posted by FUDGEY

Male Sparrowhawk for me. Hen Harrier is a lot bigger than a Kestrel. By the colour and behaviour my moneys on the Male sprawk. Merlin a small possibility too.

Sounds like a sparrowhawk to me too, apart from the light grey back. Light conditions can change the perceived colour of birds however, the habitat and behaviour doesn't sound right for a hen harrier. Could possibly be merlin, but they generally hunt in the open and don't usually attack birds in trees. Merlins often hunt from low perches (posts, driftwood, farm machinery, even molehills), attacking low and fast like spars. If possible they'll take birds as they rise but, unlike spars, are quite happy to pursue prey over long distances, sometimes high into the sky, hunts can go on for several minutes. Sparrowhawks, on the other hand, rarely pursue birds for more than 100yds or so.

Bit of a calculated guess, but the small birds may well have been goldfinch, siskin or redpolls feeding on alder seeds, as alders are a commonly found along the banks of lakes, rivers, etc.

Cheers
Jonathan

[RoyW]

From the description, and from knowing the site, I would say that this will almost without doubt be a male Sparrowhawk.

Sparrowhawks can often appear to have surprisingly pointed wings, hunt in the way described, and would be a typical species in the country park.

Melins are a very scarce visitor to the area, and when they are seen it is far more likely to be over open farmland, or extensive marshy areas like Rainham. Peregrine is also regular over Belhus, but would be bigger than described and the described behaviour would be highly unusual (Pergrines don't breed on the Rainham RSPB reserve by the way, but can be seen there at any time of year). A Hobby could potentially still be around this late, but it is unlikely, and it sounds more like a Sparrowhawk anyway.


Edit: Jonathan guesses on the ID of the small birds are good suggestion - all are present (as well as other species of course).

[shadowx]

Just to clear up, the bird didnt fly actually into the trees but rather towards them and swooped up just before getting to them I only mention it since I know some birds or prey will and wont fly so close to obstacles and what not and because I know a sparrowhawk is designed for closer areas.

As for the Peregrines, all I know is it is a breeding pair, I think i have an inkling where they may roost, or at least one of their roosts nearby to Rainham Marshes. In fairness I havent ever read or been told they do breed there so I humbly accept your correction RoyW!

It's exciting to know I saw a sparrowhawk and you've more or less confirmed what I have been thinking, though I will need to look more into Merlins just for future reference.

[rossy]

did you manage to see the tail end ? the way this bop hunted points to a male merlin, yes male sparrowhawk,would be on most peoples list, but the area would be ideal for merlin. which hunt fast and in particular flocks of small birds. rossy.

[Acipiter]

It does sound like a sparrow hawk, years ago now there was a male sparrow hawk that would do the very same thing most mornings. I would see him fly very low over the lake while I was carp fishing.