Autumn dawn
A couple of days ago I saw my first Sparrowhawk. I’ve been looking out for Sparrowhawks for a while now. I know they’re found in my area, and I know the habitat around our village is perfect for them. I’ve got friends who regard them almost as pests as they prey on the birds attracted to their bird tables. I’m not a twitcher by any means – I don’t have list of birds to tick off – but I’ve got a thing about birds of prey and I’ve wanted to see a sparrowhawk.
The irony is, that after countless hours spent in the fields and woods, I saw my first Sparrowhawk sitting on the top of a lamppost on the outskirts of our local town, Bletchley.
In a way it was a little disappointing, but it’s got me thinking about urban wildlife in general and how resilient nature is. After all, many species are adapting and living alongside man. When I lived in London I had dozens of urban foxes in my garden, but here in the country I’ve only seen a handful. There are urban badgers in some places, and even reports of urban otters. And what about the pigeons? How many people have seen a proper wild Rock Dove, compared to the millions who see urban pigeons every day? Not to mention the colonies of wild budgies living in South London.
I suppose it is all rather encouraging. Although the urban landscape is spreading, the wildlife is adapting. Sure, there are probably as many losers as winners, but it is adapting nonetheless. The first Red Kite I ever saw was on a bleak mountain in a spectacularly remote part of Wales, four or five hours walk from the nearest road or house. The last Red Kite I saw was over a dual carriageway off the Oxford ring road. Perhaps you can’t compare the two experiences, but I’m glad to see the Red Kites flourishing in all areas.
Hopefully I’ll now see more Sparrowhawks, in more aesthetically pleasing surroundings. I’ve noticed that once you’ve seen one example of a particular bird, or animal, or plant, you tend to see more. Take Buzzards for example. When we moved to the village I was convinced that it was the right environment for Buzzards. I spent hours staring distractedly at the sky hoping to see one, yet it took me two years before I finally got my first sighting. Now, of course, I see and hear them all the time. I can take you to four or five spots that each have their own local Buzzard, all within walking distance of my house.
Did my village suddenly get overrun with Buzzards two years ago? Of course not. I think what happened was that I became more tuned in to the Buzzards. Once my ‘Buzzard-sense’ had developed it allowed me to see them much more easily. The same thing is happening now as I learn to track mammals. I am seeing vole runs and badger latrines that I must have walked past a hundred times without realising, but now I’m tuned in they stand out clearly.
If there is a meaning to this story, I guess it’s that you should be aware of your local environment. It’s fine to dash around to new places looking for new wildlife, but spending time getting tuned in pays dividends in the long run.
Here’s to more Sparrowhawks, whether they be urban or rural!
Tales from the Wood - The Diary of a Badger Watching Man 
Last year I had a visit from a Sparrowhawk in SE27. My little birdtable onto which I ply very expensive special food for the wild birds, became its local KFC. It sat in a tree in the garden and waited until the table was full of little fluffy fledglings and then swooped. Luckily (or not so luckily) the first victim was a poor pigeon feeding on the ground, and the second a starling. I began to think it would take up home, but thankfully disappeared shortly after.
I agree its fascinating how nature adapts, even bringing us stag beetles to this part of London.
Hi there Hedgehog Fan
That sounds like an amazing experience. Of course, it probably wasn’t so amazing for the pigeons and starlings!
It is a dilemma. We have bird tables that attract and feed the small birds, and the small birds in turn attract and feed the Sparrowhawks. I guess it’s another example of humans unbalancing nature.
We have a couple of sparrowhawks that visit our garden. We are in a semi-rural location (or should that be semi-urban?) I must admit I don’t mind having them in the garden. I’d rather they caught the garden birds than the local cats (who probably have their share as well). They are such a gorgeous bird to watch up close. I’ve never seen a wild kite… not even above the motorway! but I’ve seen a hobby nearby and a young buzzard from about 3ft away! (very exciting). Unbalancing nature? I guess we are, with our feeders all over the place… but I for one won’t be taking mine down quite yet. Jane
back in the day , I was fortunate enough to watch a pair of sparrowhawks successfully raise 6 chicks , 3 male & 3 female
according to the experts thats not unusual –
this video is ancient (& far from my best) but here in Yorkshire
we have an abundance of these raptors’
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-5854589603522572547&ei=zsDBSfzzBZD5-Ab0q8jsAg&q=accipiter&hl=en&emb=1
Great video Spiney! Thanks for sharing.
You realise there’s more sparrowhawks in that one nest than I’ve ever seen?
I witnessed the first flights of all the chicks – was a close call – one female narrowly missed me ,
The amazing thing was how much they eat – one day the female brought over 30 feral pigeons – which she took with
a near 100% strike rate – the male mostly just thrashing about nearby .
Sparrowhawks are more numerous up North –
EUREKA!!!
today I discovered/learned/realized/witnessed or finally understood something about sparrowhawk behaviour & how at the top of the food chain (almost) they control their avian environment.
In a small wood, occupied by all manner of birds, was a cacophony of magpies pigeons, blackbirds etc. overhead flew mrs S/H, immediately mobbed by everything in feathers, causing complete confusion….the male however (I was struggling to keep an eye on,( but was my absolute focal point) quietly made himself invisible in densely foliated greenery, within only 10 minutes, the scene appeared to return to the usual ‘tweet tweet’ stuff. the magpie/jackdaw/jay heirachy each confused the attentions of the woodys, the blackbirds the tits, finches etc. it stayed like that for time, however as soon as Mrs S/H reappeared the male came crashing straight through the trees & struggled to take a collared dove….WHAM I watched & took photos as the pattern repeated (blackbird this time) food for only an hour, cos soon as carrion arrive, its gone – tick tick (a woodpigeon is taken by the female) but my so simple realization is this – language! the language of the magpie is rather like a ‘im a magpie’ the ‘CH..’ made by a SparrowHawk is the first syllable of the phrase…MAGPIE UPROAR=CONFUSED SONG BIRDS!! whether the immitations made by a blue tits are supremely intelligent SURVIVAL tactics or simply reckless (usually suicidal) mimickry is as yet undecided.
Very interesting indeed! And a great view of a Sparrowhawk in action too.
There’s so much that we don’t know about the behaviour of birds and animals, but we can be sure that they’ve evolved to fill a niche perfectly. I hope to get a similar experience as yours one day.
All the best
BWM