Our Neighbourhood Sparrowhawk

Yesterday, mid-morning, I planned to refill the bird feeders in our garden. This is a daily task as around our garden we have a thick hedge which is home to a flock of around twenty house sparrows (the little chaps wont stand still long enough for me to count them), plus dunnocks, a robin, a cock blackbird and a wood pigeon. All take feed.

Yesterday, it went very quiet. "Empty feeders" I thought. When I looked out of the window, this is what I saw.

A young sparrowhawk (Accipter nisus) looking for some breakfast. As the name suggests, this is a small hawk that predates on small birds such as sparrows and dunnocks, particularly those that hang around bird tables. A sparrowhawk will swoop in whilst the smaller bird is preoccupied and not paying attention.

For me, as a birdwatcher, this is a very nice addition to our local population, although I suppose the sparrows may disagree.