Danny, one of my bird group sent me this new second photo below of a Sparrowhawk with a story attached which I did not know at the time went with this image below when I published it recently. Here it is again as it is part of the story.
It was in his garden, and was spotted on the branch outside his bedroom window by his wife. He grabbed his camera and got a few shots. Part of the bird’s mating ritual is that the male catches prey, and offers it to the female he wants as a mate and she either accepts or rejects him.
It was in his garden, and was spotted on the branch outside his bedroom window by his wife. He grabbed his camera and got a few shots. Part of the bird’s mating ritual is that the male catches prey, and offers it to the female he wants as a mate and she either accepts or rejects him.
Danny then crept over to the open window and looked down on the
ground and was amazed to see a female Sparrowhawk eating a Bluetit! He was able to get a shot without her seeing him. That is where that story ends. However, he had another tale to tell me.
One day a couple of years ago he came into the bedroom
to see a large faint marking on the bedroom window. I know you are thinking why did I publish this terrible image however Danny figured out how to get the shot into a more dramatic
image so that we could see exactly what the mark was.
He reckoned it was a Sparrowhawk who had been chasing a
small bird and did not see the window till the last moment, then it threw out
its wings and hit the window feet first – you
can see the feet markings if you look carefully. The rest of the body
hit the window with wings open. The impact knocked all the loose surface skin
flakes onto the glass. As there was no dead bird under the window, it obviously
survived.
Now I think Danny was very clever to be able to make this image above from the terrible one above it. Many thanks Danny for sharing these stories with us.
I am linking this post with WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY.
Although I will be publishing scheduled posts, I will NOT be commenting on blogs until after 31 July as my family are home from Malawi.
Hopefully you will find time to read some of the posts during this time and I hope to read as many of your as time premits.
Many thanks for visiting and also to all those who leave comments.
This is AMAZING!! How on earth could he do this?
ReplyDeleteDanny was SUPER CLEVER. We have similar smears on some of our windows. And smears is all they are.
ReplyDeleteHow fascinating, Margaret! Thank you for sharing and thank you to Danny for capturing the images and the story that went with them.
ReplyDeleteHopefully you'll have a great time with your family Margaret. I actually like the last image. I'm trying to figure out if it is a wood pigeon rather than sparrowhawk, it's the tail pattern on the glass.
ReplyDeleteGreat Sparrowhawk story and photos. The editing of the window shot is very clever (apart from cropping I never edit my photos so wouldn't know where to start!!).
ReplyDeleteWonderful image to catch . . .
ReplyDeleteWe had a hawk like bird crash into one of our windows a few years ago.
We woke up to the crash of glass . . .
Very dramatic images all round!
ReplyDeleteInteresting stories!
ReplyDeleteSuper images and interesting back stories.
ReplyDeleteNeat stories---both of them....Not sure if you have heard my Bluebird story. One spring during mating season, two male Bluebirds were FIGHTING on/near the ground near my bedroom window. Heard the noise --but didn't get a picture. I'm not sure which one of them WON the female (watching from the trees above) --but one of them had to truly FIGHT for his lady!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Betsy
Wow! So cool-on both accounts!
ReplyDeleteWow--- incredible shots of the hawk.
ReplyDeleteNice photos interesting stories
ReplyDeleteThey're are a special bird, and it was great that he was able to see a little more into their lives than we normally do. Excellent pictures too.
ReplyDeleteGood to see the Sparrowhawk getting the rough end of the stick for a change Margaret.{:))
ReplyDeleteWonderful story. I heard a huge bang on the patio windows next door and there was a sparrowhawk devouring its prey on the neighbours lawn. Luckily they don't seem to damage themselves or the windows!
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely weekend :)