Hi all,
About an hour ago I was awoken by the sound of a new songbird in my garden. I decided to explore but only saw some animated magpies. Then I saw this! As I've said before I am new to this but I'm convinced I know what it is and would like some clarification from you experts! :) To help, he/she was noticably smaller than a wood pigeon, he had a very dark covering which you can clearly see here. His/her underside was much paler and was beige to almost white. He was in the shadows during his visit and so it was difficult to spot more intricate detail.
After this shot was taken he jumped to the ground, very sneakily, in between the fence you can see and the sheds in that area. The sheds are covered by a large conifer tree. He disappeared for 30-40 seconds and in that time, 2 Magpies were startled out from the Conifer Tree. This bird then re-emerged empty-handed and flew off. I am convinced that when I very first started birding, I spotted a similar bird but was too inexperienced to identify it. So over to you all! Hope you can help!
Thanks
Steve
I won't be happy until I've got a penguin down :)
Hi Steve,
sneaky male Sparrowhawk there! Bet it was quite a surprise to be woken up by him!
Are there any mice nearby or around that shed? Our resident female caught one of the mice in our garden a few weeks back (instead of hunting the birds) and a week later a male had a go too.
Hi Brenda / Al
Thanks for your nice comments and yes they are now officially one of my favourite birds too :) Was absolutely fabulous to wake up and find him this morning.
Hi Paul,
You have a pair? Oh that's brilliant! Must admit I have been gazing out of my window all day to try and catch sight of a female. Just out of interest, do they visit often? And do they visit at set times? Ie mornings, afternoons, evenings?
I'm not aware of mice around that shed. I'm surrounded by Cat owners who all frequent the area by the sheds so I'd be surprised if mice took hold there. As I say, I could be wrong, but I think he was more interested in the Magpies.
Regards
I can imagine how much time you've spent by the window since seeing him :o)
The female visits here more often the male - in fact, the last time the male shown up was the first time I'd seen him since last february when i was housebound after an op.
I'd say out of all the visits off the female I've seen, more have been in the morning than afternoon. Also I notice evidence of their kills on the walkway and they've always happened that morning.
Other than flying over quite regularly, which always excites me, I haven't seen the female in the garden for a while. I guess she must be getting more success elsewhere, as before she caught the mouse here her last 4 visits had been unsuccessful.
I wouldn't have imagined a male Sparrowhawk going for a Magpie actually, maybe that's just from my experience as our male could never take a Magpie. Then again, my Magpie is huge!
Mice catching isn't as common as bird catching, but its not unheard of :o)