Sparrow Hawk

Despite the large numbers of small birds that regularly visit our feeders, one bird we have not seen all winter is the sparrow hawk. A couple of weeks ago, I was ninety-odd percent sure I saw one flying over the woodland to the back of us, in a typical sparrow hawk cruising flight, but I hadn't got my glasses and the bird was some distance away. Today, however, I was called urgently by Ann to look at what was on our shed, and there sat a sparrow hawk, a male I should think from the size (the female is considerably larger in build than the male), surveying the scene.

Sparrow hawks will often find a vantage point from which they can scan the area before, in all probability, launching into their trademark swift and scything flight into a place where perhaps smaller birds are not being as attentive as they might be. Our shed provided a fairly decent vantage point, but would I think have been rather too obvious. Then again, had the hawk sat there for long enough, one or two birds might well have ventured to the feeders without paying attention. That didn't happen in this case, as the bird us peering through our kitchen window, and quickly flew off. I suspect he'll be back, though.

There are some birds I'd hate to lose, chief among them either of the bullfinch pair; having said that, though, predators like sparrow hawks are part of the natural balance of things, and if I am feeding the finches and tits, I have to be prepared for some of those smaller birds to be taken by predators. Sparrow hawk numbers vary quite precisely in accordance with numbers of prey species, and so a balance is always retained. The same may not be true of magpies, and I may return to that topic - but I do welcome sparrow hawks, even if at times through gritted teeth.