SPARROWHAWK
I will never forget watching the birds on my parent's bird feed station and being mesmerized by a sparrowhawk which was chasing a blue tit.
The sparrowhawk twisted and turned behind the tit and followed it closely straight through their bird house. My mother was not impressed as they had recently put up a bird box incorporating a camera and this was one of its inhabitants.
On Lundy, most sparrowhawks are seen either in Spring or Autumn and can mostly be seen hunting the Sidelands.
For me, Millcombe valley was a successful place to watch them, either from the top of the steps before entering St Helen’s field or from the Casbah. The village is also a good spot.
Kev (the Farmer), has seen them chasing starlings in the Lambing Shed and I have seen them chasing birds in the covered yard. You can see from the photographs that Bartons roof can be used (it turned its back on me as I took the shot then flew off!), and Stoneycroft has hunting possibilities as they like to ambush birds from behind hedges and walls.
The female is a third bigger than the male, slate grey above and grey barring on a pale chest, whereas the male has a reddish-brown chest. They both have longish yellow legs. Again, I would like to apologize for the quality of the shots, mostly at distance and so cropped.
