Bird of Prey..
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- DaveB
- The Ministry
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Bird of Prey..
Hi Chaps
I happened to walk into the living room this afternoon.. bored on a wet and miserable day. I looked out of the front window to see this..
I couldn't tell what it had got for a while.. it seemed dead and motionless but then it tried to move and get free and I could see it was a starling. I'm not sure if it had been caught on the ground or grabbed in flight. I know this is mother nature n'all but I felt sorry for the starling.. obviously in a great deal of distress so I thought I'd open the front door. No way. Even before the door was fully open, the Hawk took off, still holding the starling firmly in it's talons Not sure what sort of Hawk it was. It was difficult trying to identify any sort of colouring with its wet feathers. Perhaps one of you can identify it.
Sorry about the quality of the pictures btw. It was too dark taking the shots indoors through glass without the flash and the flash would have bounced back off the glass anyway.
ATB
DaveB
I happened to walk into the living room this afternoon.. bored on a wet and miserable day. I looked out of the front window to see this..
I couldn't tell what it had got for a while.. it seemed dead and motionless but then it tried to move and get free and I could see it was a starling. I'm not sure if it had been caught on the ground or grabbed in flight. I know this is mother nature n'all but I felt sorry for the starling.. obviously in a great deal of distress so I thought I'd open the front door. No way. Even before the door was fully open, the Hawk took off, still holding the starling firmly in it's talons Not sure what sort of Hawk it was. It was difficult trying to identify any sort of colouring with its wet feathers. Perhaps one of you can identify it.
Sorry about the quality of the pictures btw. It was too dark taking the shots indoors through glass without the flash and the flash would have bounced back off the glass anyway.
ATB
DaveB
Old sailors never die.. they just smell that way!
Re: Bird of Prey..
Mrs Watson tells me its a Sparrow Hawk, probably a female. She's a train falconer so know such things
Ben.
Re: Bird of Prey..
Almost certainly a sparrowhawk
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=sparrowhawk
Especially as it's caught a starling. Seen several of them soaring over the houses near us in SW London.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=sparrowhawk
Especially as it's caught a starling. Seen several of them soaring over the houses near us in SW London.
- DaveB
- The Ministry
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Re: Bird of Prey..
Ah.. thank you both I didn't get a clear view of it's breast feathers and the speed it took off still holding the Starling was breath-taking.. there it was.. gone! Pity they don't go for bloody Magpies though I guess a Magpie would be too big and dangerous for it to handle!
ATB
DaveB
ATB
DaveB
Old sailors never die.. they just smell that way!
Re: Bird of Prey..
SHMBO tells me size is no problem, sparrow hawks have been known to go for wood pigeons. She reckons your one was fairly juvenile as it still had some white feathers.
Ben.
- fighterpilot
- Trident
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Re: Bird of Prey..
Definitely a female Spar, sub-adult by the patchiness and irregular feathers.
Richard
Richard
- DaveB
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Re: Bird of Prey..
Well.. unless it had a tag with a barcode on, Mrs B wouldn't have known
I got a feeling it was a young bird with how the feathers around its head and neck were flecked.. not grown in. I'm glad they might take Magpies.. that's one bird I really don't like. Wood Pigeons don't do any harm really.. other than cr@ping on your car and windows but Magpies.. no, I don't like them at all
Late edit: Thanks Richard
ATB
DaveB
I got a feeling it was a young bird with how the feathers around its head and neck were flecked.. not grown in. I'm glad they might take Magpies.. that's one bird I really don't like. Wood Pigeons don't do any harm really.. other than cr@ping on your car and windows but Magpies.. no, I don't like them at all
Late edit: Thanks Richard
ATB
DaveB
Old sailors never die.. they just smell that way!
- Garry Russell
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Re: Bird of Prey..
I thought it was a Mk.200
Garry
"In the world of virtual reality things are not always what they seem."
"In the world of virtual reality things are not always what they seem."
- Airspeed
- Red Arrows
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Re: Bird of Prey..
Wot's rong wiv Magpies, Dave?
EDIT:
In fact, we hear that the UK poisoned cockchafers out of existence, so Starlings became Starvings, and are somewhat endangered in the UK. Well, if you want some back, they've invaded Australia in a big way. When we moved up here, I had to put wire mesh around our gutters to stop them continuing to breed in our roof. Give me a Magpie any day.
EDIT:
In fact, we hear that the UK poisoned cockchafers out of existence, so Starlings became Starvings, and are somewhat endangered in the UK. Well, if you want some back, they've invaded Australia in a big way. When we moved up here, I had to put wire mesh around our gutters to stop them continuing to breed in our roof. Give me a Magpie any day.