Bird Of Prey, Extreme I.D

davidbridges

davidbridges

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David Bridges
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Hi all,

Me and my mate were walking the dogs and i was taking shots of the dogs, then our bird came flying over. When i say our i mean we call it ours as weve been watching it fly around for about 3 yrs since it was a juvenille. We don't know what it is but we always see it chasing ducks around in the sky ect its quite a character lol well.... Anyway its a 100% crop of a rubbish picture so its gonna be quite hard to I.D hopefully its possible to some of the experienced I.Ders out there!

(no critique on the photo thanks :D:LOL:)

2005731078241946447_rs.jpg


Thanks

Dave
 
hmm i dont think so, its not really the habitat and its not that big
 
Female Sparrowhawk ?
 
I think its a Sparrowhawk too. The female has yellow legs..........have you noticed that?
 
Trust me on this one, it's a Hen Harrier(y)
 
I'd have thought a Harrier, but that's a tricky ID at that range and angle - for me anyway. ;)
 
Gonna throw another species into the equation, as Sparrow hawks are just a touch to small to have a go at ducks, and the lenghth of the tail screams "accipiter" I guessing male Goshawk.
Janice, as the Sparrow hawks mature both species get yellow eyes and yellow legs, the females leg feathers are longer than the male though. And of course she is a lot bigger about twice the size @around 9-ish ozs
 
Well this is a tuff one, well its not a kestrel lol. Its not a duck sorry, its like this wierd seagul type of thing thats really really noisy !. i am going to have to get a closer shot of this sometime not sure were it comes from though so ...

Thanks for the help anyway
 
Actually just been on the RSPB site, im 90% its a sparrowhawk its got the colour and im not sure if i would expect something as rare as a goshawk to be spotted so often. Got the day off after my mock exam so i might take a wander without the dogs. Any tips on shooting birds of prey (with a camera of course) haha
Thanks anyway for the replies
 
BRASH said:
Trust me on this one, it's a Hen Harrier(y)
Click to expand...

Nah folks it is a Hen Harrier. As already said the Sparrow Hawk is too small. The Goshawk, has white around its backside, under the body but the Harrier has white on it's rump, above. You can just make this out in the pic. The Goshawk is lighter all over on it's under side.
 
Hmmm i am not convinced by hen harrier, i would love if it was but we originally thought it was a kestrel but its never hoverred once so we were stumped. Doesnt have the size either its not that big and the picture is a bit rubbish so ...
 
davidbridges said:
Actually just been on the RSPB site, im 90% its a sparrowhawk its got the colour and im not sure if i would expect something as rare as a goshawk to be spotted so often. Got the day off after my mock exam so i might take a wander without the dogs. Any tips on shooting birds of prey (with a camera of course) haha
Thanks anyway for the replies
Click to expand...

Goshawks are begining to make a come back, and are "around" They look like giant spars.
However as a size (and shape) guide a female spar looks a little like a small pigeon in fast flight, cruising around, more like a large kestrel. without seeing it in the flesh, its difficult to nail the size. obviously Gos hawks are at least twice the size but maybe that helps narrow it down a bit?
 
OK this bird has been seen flying over streets on the edges of town. Goshawk behaviour ?
 
davidbridges said:
OK this bird has been seen flying over streets on the edges of town. Goshawk behaviour ?
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Any reports of cats gone missing? Gos would make the papers if that was flying around the streets. Very timid secretive birds who avoid built up areas.
 
ooooh i totally forgot to mention that ive seen what i thought was a suspected goshawk gyr falcon not far away, which would make goshawk a strong possibility !
 
davidbridges said:
ooooh i totally forgot to mention that ive seen what i thought was a suspected goshawk gyr falcon not far away, which would make goshawk a strong possibility !
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Hard to confuse the two. Gos is broadwing and Gyr (rare) longwing. Very different.
 
although im thinking the same as verachoca as i would expect a sparrow hawk to nibbling on people birds in there gardens. But least i know that there are definately some buzzards in a forest thats a couple of miles to walk no they are HARD to shoot lol !!!
which leads me back onto tips for shooting BOP.
 
Hard to confuse the two. Gos is broadwing and Gyr (rare) longwing. Very different.
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You guys are far to fast :D

I havent a clue what the bird was i saw, it was overcast day and the bird was buzzard size but the shape of a kestrel type of thingy so long tail ect ect it could fly really fast i mean this was speeding against a headwind. Unfortunately it was in sillhouette so i couldnt get any colours or markings
 
You could try baiting a "sitty" perch. Put some carrion on an obvious perch/branch and see what turns up. I cant help you with lens/technical info but getting close I am pretty good at.
 
You could try baiting a "sitty" perch. Put some carrion on an obvious perch/branch and see what turns up
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Thanks for that, i didn't know whether that was legal or what the score of it was. What would you recomend bait wise, dont want to be poisoning BOP's
 
BRASH said:
Nah folks it is a Hen Harrier. As already said the Sparrow Hawk is too small. The Goshawk, has white around its backside, under the body but the Harrier has white on it's rump, above. You can just make this out in the pic. The Goshawk is lighter all over on it's under side.
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Not all goshawks are "silver" ( pale) they can be quite a dull brown all overI am inclined to agree with you, though, the noise gives it away a sparrowhawk "mews" like a cat.

Goshawks call is quite a high pitched Hiii AAhhhh :D
Spar alarm calls are a fast ki ki ki ki :D
 
this thread has motivated me to get a decent shot of this bird. So thankyou !
 
I used to keep BOP and day old chicks were the main food source. Many a time I went out to find a lost bird and used this method just to bring them back in. Feeding is fine, trapings a nono. Get a piece of prime beef from the butchers or even a rabbit but dont put that up the tree!
 
Veracocha said:
Hard to confuse the two. Gos is broadwing and Gyr (rare) longwing. Very different.
Click to expand...
Goshawks are accipters ( true hawks)


Veracocha said:
Any reports of cats gone missing? Gos would make the papers if that was flying around the streets. Very timid secretive birds who avoid built up areas.
Click to expand...
:LOL:


davidbridges said:
although im thinking the same as verachoca as i would expect a sparrow hawk to nibbling on people birds in there gardens. .
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Thats exactly what they do

davidbridges said:
You guys are far to fast :D

I havent a clue what the bird was i saw, it was overcast day and the bird was buzzard size but the shape of a kestrel type of thingy so long tail ect ect it could fly really fast i mean this was speeding against a headwind. Unfortunately it was in sillhouette so i couldnt get any colours or markings
Click to expand...
Never kept harriers so I don't know how they preform against a head wind but at that size and speed it is very possibley a Gos

davidbridges said:
Thanks for that, i didn't know whether that was legal or what the score of it was. What would you recomend bait wise, dont want to be poisoning BOP's
Click to expand...

If its a wild Gos / bird its unlikley to come for carrion but if you want to try dead rabbit, pigeon, pheasant , partridge anything native infact intact,
You might possibly pull in red kites or buzzards, but don't get caught. You may well have a tough time explaining why you were "baiting birds of prey"
 
Is it a bird is it a plane? nope its a crap picture of a BOP :D
c'mon Dave you just have to get a good shot of it now before its "pistols at dawn" ( who ever she is :D)
 
If its a wild Gos / bird its unlikley to come for carrion but if you want to try dead rabbit, pigeon, pheasant , partridge anything native infact intact,
You might possibly pull in red kites or buzzards, but don't get caught. You may well have a tough time explaining why you were "baiting birds of prey"
Click to expand...

I think the tougher question is when my mum asks why the hell are you carrying around a dead pheasant. The guys at the BOP center used chicken for most of their displays, but obviously their birds are captive and the ones im looking for a wild ... ? any thoughts,

Anyway regardless of dead pheasants and rabbits and all sorts im going to take a trip up today and just have a bit of patience and wait. Any tips for waiting around weres going to be the best bet for seeing a sparrow hawk ?
 
If its a wild Gos / bird its unlikley to come for carrion but if you want to try dead rabbit, pigeon, pheasant , partridge anything native infact intact,
You might possibly pull in red kites or buzzards, but don't get caught. You may well have a tough time explaining why you were "baiting birds of prey"
[/QUOTE]

So what is a dead rabbit, pigeon, pheasant, partridge if it isn't carrion?
 
Veracocha said:
If its a wild Gos / bird its unlikley to come for carrion but if you want to try dead rabbit, pigeon, pheasant , partridge anything native infact intact,
You might possibly pull in red kites or buzzards, but don't get caught. You may well have a tough time explaining why you were "baiting birds of prey"
Click to expand...

So what is a dead rabbit, pigeon, pheasant, partridge if it isn't carrion?[/QUOTE]

Its carrion!
Re-read what I said "its unlikely to come for carrion.....
....but you might pull in kites or buzzards"
 
Carrion and stuff aside, what the best time to see a sparrowhawk, and wheres going to be the best place ?
 
davidbridges said:
Carrion and stuff aside, what the best time to see a sparrowhawk, and wheres going to be the best place ?
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Hmm thats what I call a leading question and very difficult to give an answer to
Sparrowhawks have a plucking post mostly in the breeding season though. You may wander passed these a fence post tree stump etc with feathers spread around. Usually in a copse or wood.
This'll give you an idea as to territory.

This time of year, They tend to go on the hunt early morning. ( 1st light)
Urban areas, they can be seen cruising the roof tops or sometimes even sitting on fences looking for feeding starlings blackbirds, smaller birds on bird tables etc

Farm land they can be seen flying ( buzzing) hedgerows trying to flush / panic sitting birds into making a mistake.
If you have no idea as to a local Spars territory you may well spend months looking for one and even then fail

Breeding seaon, the males will have females to impress and chicks to feed so they will need to hunt more often.

You do ocassionally see them "last llight" if the am hunt has been unsuccessful. But cold days cold nights, high metabolic rates, if the morning hunt has been un-successful then they might already "be in trouble".
 
copse or wood
Click to expand...
We see it flying around just out side a small copse which is good news as i know it really well,

This time of year, They tend to go on the hunt early morning. ( 1st light)
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Thats also good ive got the day off school so i might take a walk about 7 o clock see what i can find ...

I think i will learn its bird call our sound or whatever it is called so i know when it is around.
 
IanC_UK said:
Yep definiely a sparrowhawk by looks of it, theres a clip of its sound on here http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/sparrowhawk/index.asp as well as a slightly better pic of it in more or less the same state as yours :)
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Trouble is Ian, Its difficult to know from the picture, I thought accipiter on behaviour, and the length of that tail, but Spars don't chase ducks thats why I then thought Gos.


Dave try this

http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/sparrowhawk.htm
 
Cobra said:
Trouble is Ian, Its difficult to know from the picture, I thought accipiter on behaviour, and the length of that tail, but Spars don't chase ducks thats why I then thought Gos.


Dave try this

http://www.garden-birds.co.uk/birds/sparrowhawk.htm
Click to expand...

Hmmm female Sparrowhawks are bigger than the males and will have a go at anything have seen one catch and eat a fully grown collared dove before lol Im prepared to be proven wrong though, wont be the first time and certainly wont be the last ;)

The pic on the RSPB site looks remarkably like the pic posted here ?
 
IanC_UK said:
Hmmm female Sparrowhawks are bigger than the males and will have a go at anything have seen one catch and eat a fully grown collared dove before lol Im prepared to be proven wrong though, wont be the first time and certainly wont be the last ;)

The pic on the RSPB site looks remarkably like the pic posted here ?
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The one I have flown / and others seen flown will take on magpies, partridges and "smaller birds", collard doves are easy prey as they are "soft game" ( not likley to damage the hawk) Mallards are a differant matter, Its not only the size of the prey that counts the physical weight plays a big part, they have to be "hit hard enough" to be taken outta the sky and then killed on the floor. A spar is not heavy enough to dragged them to the floor (female 9oz approx) Male Gos's might just about manage it they weight in at around 1.5lbs, give or take depending on the species

and even female Gos's have troble holding them, sometimes, you are looking at a 2.5lb ( finnish gos) as opposed to a 9oz female spar, yeah I would argue that it does look like a spar in a "crusing mode" flight, but the size would be a dead give away.

But then again a harrier has V shaped wings in that style of flight, I really don't know is the honest answer, just making a few educated guess's based on what little fact are available.

 
i hate to be a pain in the arse but i was wrong when i said ducks, i ment seaguls and im sure i posted this earlier. Sorry for any incovieniece but i swear that i said (theres this pair that lives at the river they are like seaguls but not those annoying ones that pinch your chips these have bent back pointy wings and make a hell of a noise when flying around )
 
Well to make everything seem a little better ive found this shot that i took in cornwall this year, its pretty rubbish but its better than the first one i posted. But i think we can clearly see that this is definately a kestrel... don't ya think ?

2005308177067085894_rs.jpg


:p
 
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