Sparrowhawk

We spotted this sparrowhawk through the sitting-room window early this afternoon. We've had sparrowhawks in the garden before but fleetingly, and have never seen one so close. It quickly became apparent that it couldn't see us, so we were able to watch it as....

....it set about hunting our small birds, working its way through the bushes and....

....seemingly trying to frighten them out into the open.

For some time it sat on top of the trellis which separates the front and back gardens. The tangle of rose and clematis to the left is a night roost for a bunch of our sparrows and the hawk seemed quite content to wait to see if one showed its face or broke cover.

Then it flew into the back garden where most of the peanut feeders are hanging and, making an attack from the roof the summer house, almost managed to catch a sparrow.

It then flew back to the top of the trellis and spent more time there - from which we guess that it's had previous successful hunts from that vantage point.

That it's feeding off our carefully fattened small birds doesn't worry us. A fine predator like this is part of nature's rich pattern and we're thrilled to see it in our garden, even if the resident small birds aren't.

We watched it for over half an hour before it flew off across the field. At times it was within ten feet of us yet unaware of our presence.

It was almost certainly a juvenile as it doesn't have the rich colours of the adult - and its hunting skills definitely need to improve if it's to survive through the coming winter.