I'd say female Sparrowhawk.
Richard B
Any particular reasoning Richard?
Sparrowhawk. Hopefully the swift was ill, or more likely a non breeder caught out while looking for a nest site. Hopefully not a feeding adult....
Goshawks, IMO, would have no chance of catching a swift. Not agile enough out in the open. More designed for woodland hunting.
Reason it's a sparrowhawk is several fold. Starting point is why isn't it the most obvious, most likely species. Nothing in that photo to say it's not a sparrowhawk so no reason to move on to other species. Secondly, legs too dainty for goshawk. Whole bird looks too dainty, in comparative terms, to goshawk. Ultimately, it doesn't look like one.
Out of curiosity, why do you think it is? (there are bound to be mislabelled photos on the internet).
Eye stripe appears to continue behind the head. I also thought the plumage on the wings was too uniform (compared to many sparrow hawk images seen on the internet). Size wise - when it flew over my head (very close) it just appeared bigger than any other female sparrow hawk I’d seen. This said, I fully accept my misidentification as it was very much out in the open and well away from thickly wooded area. (Is it common for female sparrow hawks to catch swifts as prey?) Cheers.
Looks like a female Sparrowhawk to me - I'm no expert but this might help: https://www.birdguides.com/articles/identification/eurasian-sparrowhawk-and-northern-goshawk-photo-id-guide/
Legs too thin for Goshawk.
I'll take your "there are bound to be mislabelled photos on the internet" and raise it to "there are definitely mislabelled photos on the internet".
(I think it's a female spar. I once had to remove a female spar from a bathroom, after it had broken its back in a collision. One of the cats somehow managed to relocate it indoors. The bird was humanely euthanised by a veterinary, after examination/assessment.)
Aww, what a sad and unusual story you have there. You have certainly been up close with one.