08 Thursday Jan 2026
Am I watching the Sparrowhawk or is the Sparrowhawk watching me?
I was checking the rather boggy area near these trees and shrubs for any lurking Snipe (none seen) when I was distracted by a rustling in the branches. A bird flew out and away up the field, and I quickly realised it was a Sparrowhawk from its flight pattern (flap, flap, glide). Then, I got the feeling I was being watched and turned to find this second Sparrowhawk still sitting in the trees.
01 Wednesday Jan 2025
Happy New Year, everyone!
As I’ve done for the past few years, I’d planned to walk a circuit of Cardiff Bay today, challenging myself to find as many birds, and wildflowers in bloom, as possible. But the weather has intervened: heavy rain squalls are barrelling through and we’re under a yellow wind warning until 3pm. I hope to get out late afternoon for at least a local stomp but may return too late and too wet to get today’s blog out in good time. So, here’s a special encounter from a couple of weeks ago, on 17 December, when my end-of-year countdown blogs were underway.
Fortunately, as I rounded the corner to begin walking the path alongside the River Ely, I was searching the adjacent embankment for any birds and noticed this gorgeous Sparrowhawk, initially perched on a rock, and then it hopped on to a neighbouring dead tree trunk. Amazingly, it didn’t spot me (or, perhaps, wasn’t concerned by my presence), and I got quite a few photos before a motorboat, heading in to the marina, passed quite close behind, disturbing the bird and causing it to fly off.
These are the special moments I so love when I’m out on my daily wanders. I hope, in 2025, that your days will be full of wildlife and wildflowers, and similar special moments in Nature!
11 Monday Nov 2019
This Sparrowhawk was hunting over the west paddock at Cosmeston Lakes Country Park this afternoon. Three times I spotted it flying past, landing to check out potential prey and then moving on again empty-clawed.
Sparrowhawks always look smaller than I expect but they are incredibly aerobatic and agile in the air. I watched this one swerving at speed between branches that were swaying in the strong breeze. Once it landed, it was rather ungainly, struggling to maintain its balance on bushes as it peered down for the bird it had been chasing.
What a pleasure it was to watch such a magnificent creature! I’m only sorry the photos don’t do it justice – it was a little too distant.
23 Tuesday Oct 2018
Tags
birding, birds of prey, birdwatching, British birds, Goldfinch, Lavernock coastal fields, Linnet, Penarth-Lavernock coastal path, Sparrowhawk, Sparrowhawk trying to catch prey
Until the farmer decided to plough them last week, the fields alongside the coastal path between Penarth and Lavernock were alive with birds, hundreds, perhaps thousands of Linnets and Goldfinches.
For those fascinated by birds, it was a feast for the eyes but for the local birds of prey, it was just a feast … or, at least, this Sparrowhawk was fervently hoping it would be a feast.
However, although I watched it for over an hour one day, flap-flap-flap-gliding effortlessly overhead and then swooping very low and very fast over the fields, I never saw it actually catch anything.
It seems the Sparrowhawk mostly went hungry and most of the little finches lived to fly another day.
16 Saturday Jun 2018
Tags
#30DaysWild, 30 Days Wild, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Coot chicks, Glamorgan Bird Club, Kenfig National Nature Reserve, Kenfig Pool, Sparrowhawk
For day 16 of #30DaysWild I joined my fellow Glamorgan Bird Club members for their monthly wander around Kenfig National Nature Reserve. It started grey and later rained a little, so conditions weren’t ideal for birding and, in the leafy fullness of summer, birds can often be difficult to spot anyway.
The plus side of this for me is that I get to practise my listening skills as I gradually learn to recognise more and more bird songs and calls. And, fortunately, Ceri had brought his ’scope along, so we could all take a look at those birds that were distant specks on the tree-tops.
The highlight for me was this Sparrowhawk that Rob spotted sitting on the shore of Kenfig Pool.
Though its origin is unknown and so it might not be a wild bird, the Pink-footed goose was still a nice addition to the Canada and Greylag geese on the pool.
And you know I can’t resist the young ones: these are just a couple of today’s Cootlets.
Considering the conditions and the time of year, I reckon we did pretty well to spot and/or hear a total of 47 species. As I don’t have eyes in the back of my head, my personal list was 43: Collared dove, Woodpigeon, Starling, Blackbird, Wren, Dunnock, Swift, Lesser black-backed gull, Willow warbler, Greenfinch, Blackcap, Carrion crow, Magpie, Goldfinch, Chiffchaff, House sparrow, Song thrush, Skylark, Whitethroat, Robin, Stonechat, Linnet, Herring gull, Great tit, Buzzard, Raven, Lapwing, Sand martin, Coot, Mallard, Canada goose, Sparrowhawk, Greylag goose, Mute swan, Pink-footed goose Grey heron, Pied wagtail, Reed warbler, Chaffinch, Herring gull, Cormorant, Great crested grebe, Blue tit.
09 Saturday Dec 2017
Tags
Accipiter nissus, bird of prey, birding, birdwatching, British birds, Forest Farm, Forest Farm Nature Reserve, Sparrowhawk
On Thursday I showed you many of the lovely birds I had seen at Forest Farm Nature Reserve the previous week but I left out two of them, the male and female Sparrowhawk I saw several times during my meanderings.
The Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nissus) is a bird of prey and it was easy to tell when this pair was near by as all the other birds froze, no movement, no sound. A hawker of sparrows it may be but, as Buczacki points out in Fauna Britannica, they could just as easily be called finchhawk, larkhawk or tithawk ‘because this bird really is a scourge of small feathered things’. That sounds like bad news for the smaller birds but, interestingly, the RSPB reports that ‘long term scientific studies have shown that sparrowhawks generally have no or little impact on songbird populations’. (Read more here.)
I only managed to get distant fuzzy photos (above) of the male bird, with his distinctive blue-grey back and wings, but my shots of the female are a little better. I’ve seen Sparrowhawks many times before but have not had views as close as these, and they were magnificent to watch as they flew at high speed through the thick spreading branches in the woodland by the canal.
earthstar 
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