Murder in the garden - not for the squeamish

[simondix]

Nice shots. Camera shy was she?

[Rick Piper]

Hi Guys

I also have a resident pair of what i guess are sparrowhawks

They love Pidgeons here (they can eat as many as they want as they poo on my car when they roost overnight)

This one is 5 ft from the window a few minutes after the middair kill which was a loud bang then a shower of feathers

Sorry but phone pics as camera was flat
Regards
Rick

Not zoomed shots! thats how close it was! with phone but just pointing camera out of window (thats why they are not clear sorry) didn't want to disturb it.
Might be a Sparrohawk or possibly Buzzard as we get both but don't know which is which
Awesome Bird whatever it was

[simondix]

That is very large prey for a male Sparrowhawk. Punching above his weight. Nice phone pics.

[ianhind]

And for anyone who has never seen a Sparrowhawk in action, Rick's photos rather graphically show the activity of plucking the prey. Feathers everywhere.

That male must have done a good job of the initial kill since it would have been quite a struggle to control a pigeon. In my photos, the blackbird put up a struggle for some time. As Simon says punching above his weight.

[Rick Piper]

Hi Ian

The Above Sparrowhawk is a regular in my garden and has been for about 3 years along with it's mate.

it's had at least half a dozen Pigeons just in my Garden.

Twice i have been in the garden and heard a bang and seen it use the pidgeon as a cusion for the impact as it stayed latched on all the way to the ground.
Not seen any of the pigeons move after impact with the ground.

no idea how fast the Sparrowhawk dives in for the kill but the bang is as loud so i would guess well over 70 mph.

It's abosoutely fearless when hunting.

Also seen it kill a Magpie which taunted it all summer 2 years ago (he didn't touch the Magpie after the kill though which was odd)
seen it take a rabbit (not an adult size rabbit!) to the nest which is usually in the top of the 70 ft pine tree that is about 25 ft from my boundary.
nor seen any blackbird kills but not many of those around here in suffolk, but a lot of thrushes etc.

Never yet seen any chicks though even though they build a nest in the tree
I live in hope as i don't think these sort of birds are that common these days

And they are not that shy of general noise as i have a petrol mower and it's often not more than 30 ft away when i'm mowing!
Not seen them yet this year.

Regards
Rick

[ianhind]

They came looking for the culprit today. Did Rob send them?

[jonesey2k]

There is a video on youtube of a Sparrowhawk attacking a Magpie and then drowning it in a pond!

[ianhind]

Sparrowhawk showing a bit of initiative there! Saves time before it can start eating.

Other comments on similar videos indicate the different perspectives of people, usually based on vague ideas of to justify their remarks, e.g. "songbirds decreasing because of these".

[Rick Piper]

They came looking for the culprit today. Did Rob send them?

No... Thats TonyMadge hunting for Oxygen Thiefs
But he needs an AH64 in my opinion

Regards
Rick

[simondix]

Pics show the mantling very well. Rick, you possibly have more than one pair visiting your garden. There was an article ina bird magazine a couple of years back about a ringer who set up a net in a garden. He caught quite a few over the day and saw one towards the end of the day sitting on a fence without a ring. They are I think territorial but the borders seem a bit flexible.

The study about songbirds is an ongoing one started after WW2. They had Sparrowhawks then,. During the 50's and 60's DDT wiped out the Sparrowhawks there. When they returned after the banning in the 70's and 80's mortality for the birds they studied, I think it was either Blue or Great Tits, stayed the same, roughly 80% of the population per annum.

As for the anti-hawk brigade they are very vociferous. Even some birders are anti. Especially some of the twitching brigade as Sparrowhawks have caught quitea few rarities before they have been able to be ticked off.

There is one organisation called Save Our Songbirds who on the surface seem quite reasonable, but are backed by vested interests including the Pigeon boys. They just want Birds of prey disposed of.