Birds of Prey....Your Pictures Wanted!

A noisy buzzard in my local valley this morning.

Birds of Prey thread - 

Photos contain Bird of Prey images - 

Bird of prey identified correctly - Ummm, about that.

Edited. Correct victim identified -   On review, and after a lot of cogitation, thought, analysis and appearance of three Jays together this morning, it has been decided that the victim is a Collared dove.

I think is is a Sparrowhawk.

Luck plays a great deal as to whether one bags a good photo of a bird or not. One can increase one's chances of bagging good photographs if the correct equipment is to hand.

Luck still played a huge hand in these photos.

Luck - This is only the fifth time we've seen a Sparrowhawk in the area in the 12 years we've lived in our current house. Four of those times have been in our garden!

One the other hand, I do keep a well stocked Sparrowhawk larder - my bird feeder. Two sightings and, indeed photographs, of Sparrowhawk have been of them eating their latest capture in our garden!

I am continually surprised that Sparrowhawks are seen around our garden, as Wokingham/Finchampstead is getting quite urban. We ourselves live in the middle of a housing estate, but are blessed with some open fields nearby.

I wonder how far a Sparrowhawk will travel to find a well stocked larder. I reckon this one patrols our garden and surrounds regularly.

Red kites, Magpies, Carrion crows, wood pigeons and Jays  know it's feeding time when I place a round black table in the middle of what is laughingly called a lawn. Placed in the middle of the table is a 45cm green plant pot tray, piled high with chicken bones and bits after I've made stock.

Luck - I awoke and came down at about 5:45am. As usual I look out of kitchen window to check out garden and bird feeder. All was calm. I bustle about making breakfast.

Luck. About half an hour later, the Memsahib wanders down, glances blearily out of kitchen window. All is calm and quiet. She bustles about making breakfast. Joins me and we munch and chatter.

Luck - after a few minutes, I pop upstairs and when I came back down I glanced out of kitchen window to see the Sparrowhawk.

Excitement!!! I immediately duck down, so I am hidden from view, rush into dining room and grab camera. Back to kitchen to snap like crazy, quickly checking that camera was on Program (it was still a bit dark outside), hoping that I had centre AF and, above all, hoping the bird didn't see me or get spooked into flying off.

Oops it says, I dropped a bit.

The Sparrowhawk ate voraciously, tearing off chunks and swallowing them whole. After a few minutes, I risked going upstairs, and manage a few shots from a bedroom window. Unfortunately all windows were a bit filthy. Blast! I had cleaned them about three weeks back, whereupon it promptly rained again and again.

Waste not, want not, as the Sparrowhawk picks up the bit it had dropped.

I was able to come back downstairs and grab my monopod, setting it up to get a few more photographs via a kitchen window. Sadly the monopod wasn't set high enough, so I got reflection off the window frame.

At this point, after at least 15 minutes of frantic feeding, various birds around the Sparrowhawk alerted it to the presence of a predator. Our cat. The dozy creature had roused itself from a garden table, and was just sitting there, calmly looking at the Sparrowhawk feeding. It made no move whatsoever to go after the Sparrowhawk, it just sat there.

Anyway, because the Sparrowhawk was alert and looking back to the house, it must have caught sight of me, photographing away. It flew off after I took the photo below.

We were extremely lucky and fortunate to witness this spectacular bird. A bonus was watching it feed.

What was unlucky was the bird that got caught. It was a Collared dove. Whilst the Sparrowhawk was feeding on the dove six feet away at the base of the bird feeder...

..the Jay  was at the top of the bird feeder living dangerously. In fact, a couple of minutes before I took this photo, the Jay was in the bird table part of the feeder. I think it was only warning the cries of other birds that alerted it to the presence of a dozy cat, that prompted it to exit the table bit of the feeder and stand on top of the anti-pigeon cage.

I was slightly surprised that the Sparrowhawk flew off without the carcass of the Collared dove it had been eating. Perhaps it was already satiated, and there wasn't really much worth eating.

It may have come back later on, when we were out, to feast on the remains of the carcass. I suspect the local magpies go stuck in and finished off any bits that were left.

2 1/2 out of 3 is a stonking result. I'm claiming the half, as I did identify it as a Collared dove whilst photographing it, and there wasn't too much controversy with the third umpire.

Here is a rather wobbly video of the Sparrowhawk eating away ferociously. No high end tripod with sophisticated video camera pour moi. Just my R7 with Sigma lens resting on the back of a tall chair, with me in an awkward posture trying to half hide from the Sparrowhawk.

Red Kite taken with my new Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM lens

Kestrel enjoying the view - I couldn't work out if there were 3 or 4 around the site - this years youngsters learning the ropes + an adult or two 

Yet another Kestrel. This is the one I mis-identified as a Peregrine falcon. The beastie was away across Colebrook lake (south), Moor Green Lakes nature reserve.

It took a brief rest in a tree. The poor thing was being mobbed by a couple of Black headed gulls.

After a couple of minutes or so, when it had deemed the coast was clear, it high tailed it south towards Blackwater river.

Immature Peregrine Falcon at St Albans Cathedral

Giving me a wave!

It was very vocal!

MMMUUUUUMMMM!

And an uncropped photo, to show how close it was!