Whos keeping an eye on me....

Tuesday 12 November 2013

Garden Boss

Sparrowhawk.

Long working hours and some miserable weather has prevented me from venturing too far this past week so my WBW subject is taken from my archives during the last year or so.

Undoubtedly the boss of the garden is male Sparrowhawk. At least one male visits regularly, however I know I once had 3 individuals in the same morning, my usual un-ringed bird, a BTO metal ringed bird then this interesting observation........  a WHITE ringed bird. It would normally always be a silver metal BTO ring, however I could clearly see this was indeed white. I let my local birding group know who commented that they didn't know of any local ringing clubs using white rings. After a little internet searching I came across this Sparrowhawk ringing project edinburghhawkwatch They had sightings of their birds just across the border into England but never this far south of Scotland, So this new garden visitor was probably raised and ringed 225 miles away in Edinburgh Scotland and worked its way down into deepest England, how cool.

Anyway back to my regulars.
 
Watching and listening for any movement

 
oops he's seen me


nothing doing down there either

 
and doing what they do best
 
yes this was addressed towards me as I stood by the back door


a stunningly beautiful species



 

27 comments:

Arija said...

Splendid looking birds. I do hope the white ringed hawk had a valid passport!

Joop Zand said...

GREAT shots Dave.....good work again.

Gail Dixon said...

Oh, wow. The second to last shot is so dramatic and the last one is beautifully focused.

mick said...

All great photos but the one with the bird "yelling" at you is fantastic!

Carletta said...

Wow, he looks to be quiet vocal.
The shot is beautifully captured!

Karen said...

An incredible looking bird, marvellous captures!

Vores have said...

WAU - where som nice pictures you show :)

Neil said...

Great photos.

eileeninmd said...

Cool series and a neat looking hawk.

Hootin Anni said...

Beautiful species indeed!!!! A bit on the cranky side, but hey...if you threaten to join in on the lunch, I'd be cranky too. LOL

Excellent series Dave.

Phil Slade said...

You're right Dave, a male Sparrowhawk is stunning, and your last picture too. Interesting about the Edinburgh scheme, I'll look more closely at the nest Sprawk - if I can get near enough.

EG CameraGirl said...

Awesome photos! I'm impressed.

HansHB said...

A great serie!

Carole M. said...

Hi Dave; great photos of the Sparrowhawk and exciting to be the bearer of news re the white-banded SH. Hope the weather clears up and you get a break from work to get out there with your camera again; our soul needs it sometimes!

theconstantwalker said...

Wonderful shots Dave...they really are a favourite bird of mine to see.

Mary Howell Cromer said...

They are beautiful and you got some great shots...love the one where it is in scolding mode...my goodness, you would think that you were up for stealing it's meal away...not ;)

Zizi Santos said...

Que pássaro maravilhoso!
imagens lindas!
adoro!
Zizi

Unknown said...

Awesome shots of this gorgeous bird!

Stewart M said...

Great bird - we had one blast right through a mist net once - it was caught by just one claw! What a bird it was.

Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Hi Dave. Al. Great shot but I especially like the one shouting at you!!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Oh my gosh what beautiful pictures (even the ones that show him with his dinner remains) and that one of him hollering at you .. I swear I can almost hear him. We have Kestral hawk that looks sort of like this

Kerri Farley said...

WOW .....absolutely fabulous images!!! What a beauty!!

Liz Needle said...

Amazing series of shots.

Dave said...

Amazing shots. I wish I could capture birds with that clarity.

Richard Pegler said...

Great images, Dave. There's always mixed feelings when a Sprawk arrives in our garden. Amazingly, although we see one from time to time (usually a male), we've never seen the kill. We have, however, on the odd rare occasion found the aftermath. Once had a male and female do a simultaneous pincer movement on our Rhododendron bush - the cunning was frightening!

TexWisGirl said...

what a great hunter!

NatureFootstep said...

great serie. It was obviously well aware of you. :)