Bird Of Prey, Extreme I.D

I've just been looking on the DVD Guide to British Birds and from what I can see the one at the top of the thread looks like the Sparrowhawk to me.
 
Yep thats a buzard alright and would look about 3-4x the size of a spar in flight, shorter tail wide spread wing tips, as its built for soaring, spars are built for speed and rarely fan their wing out, ( but will hovver briefly, occassionaly ) they are more swept back in flight............... more like a wood pigeon on a mission
F'crissakes someone get a better bloody picture quick. the suspense is killing me.......... OK maybe not :D
 
i was joking about the kestrel bit, dont worry ! lol.
 
davidbridges said:
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 )
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Herring gulls perhaps? they're massive and no spar would ever go near one
 
hmm they are black and white on the wing, thats the only other thing i know ...
 
Definately not a herring gull, much smaller. There are 2 in my town, their flight is fast constant beating of the wings, no gliding
 
Cobra said:
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".
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Good post! I was out there living every bit of that! :D
 
CT said:
Good post! I was out there living every bit of that! :D
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Thanks CT I do ramble on a bit though don't I ? :D
 
BRASH said:
I tried to tell them:shrug:

Cancel, you've changed your mind. You were right first time.
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I was almost convinced but then I looked in my birds of prey identification book and it really does look like a sparrowhawk. I was surprised how long their tails are and the wings have the right shape and patterns too.
There is a sparrowhawk living around a busy crossroads at Weymouth . He feeds on small birds at the bird tables put out by a nearby block of elderly residents care home. I was amaxed to see him perched on the 3 foot high road sign actually on the pavement at a traffic lights with buses and lorries thundering by him. I stopped to take what would have been a fantastic pic but of course he flew off when he saw me get out of the car.
I realised later we were only 100 yds from the residents home (as the crow flies) where I had seen him take a small bird right off the bird table. If the old folk knew they were providing him with breakfast I think they would be horrified.
 
davidbridges said:
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 ?
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I'd look for where there is food for a sparrowhawk lol (unless its a hawk hee hee)

Look for large gardens on the edge of open grassed spaces with woods nearby. Particulary if there is a stream or small river nearby. where there are lots of small birds feeding off open bird tables .

Two of the three nesting pairs I know of locally all have nested near small streams or mill leats (don't know why the water connection ?) One pair regulrly have 5-6 young at a time and the noise the young make calling to parents is amazing.
The adults and first year young are likely to hang around their nest sites throughout the year because of the regular food source.
Listen out for their call which is a single note shriek kind of like a buzzard but without the rise and fall sound

You'll know when one is around as it will go deathly quiet you'll not hear a single bird call. good luck
 
Ok a bit more info, it fanned its tail when flying past me today, it flew past at about 3 o clock so fading light, it had caught something but it looked like it had a tail but im not sure at all. Still sound like a sparrowhawk ?
 
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