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Cobra

Cobra

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Over the last week or so, I've come down in the morning, a couple of times, to a snow storm of feral pigeon feathers, in the garden.
I'm guessing the local Sparrowhawks have kids to feed, again this year (y)
Earlier today I saw her riding a thermal, at about 900 feet. (it'll be nice and cool up there)

I'm guessing she had done the shopping, done the housework, and was having some well deserved "Me time"
Great fun to watch, sadly well out of the range of any of my lens's
 
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It is always a marvel to see raptors overhead.

A few weeks back we saw three Red Kites, 1 adult and 2 juveniles. The youngsters tail feathers were more like those of a Buzzard and their cries sounded like something out of Jurassic park.
 
Box Brownie said:
A few weeks back we saw three Red Kites, 1 adult and 2 juveniles. The youngsters tail feathers were more like those of a Buzzard and their cries sounded like something out of Jurassic park.
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When you hear a raptor call in films, they are 99% Red tail.
I get loads of kites here, and often hear them calling,
especially if I don't have anything for them that day :D
 
We have Peregrines at work I once walked round the corner to see one 3m away starting to get into a pigeon but I scared it off. I stood and watched one eating a pigeon from about 15m but had to move on so didn't see too much.
Not seen one take a pigeon though.
 
We saw a sparrowhawk in next doors garden a couple of weeks ago. We heard it first, or rather we heard the starling it had pinned to the ground, first, before we saw it. My wife was telling me to throw something at it as the starling was obviously quite distressed and the sparrowhawk was in no hurry to despatch the poor bird. I said there was no point interfering because firstly the sparrowhawk will just go and find something else to kill and secondly because we had no idea whether the starling was badly injured and frightening off the SH would leave the bird to die slowly. The SH did the business after a few minutes but it was a tough watch.
 
ShinySideUp said:
because firstly the sparrowhawk will just go and find something else to kill and secondly because we had no idea whether the starling was badly injured
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The other thing to consider, Spars especially, put a lot of effort into a kill, it may be exhausted, and not have the energy / strength to hunt again.
They have a very high metabolic rate and put their all into kill.

During the summer if it misses out on a meal it may not be the end of the world, literally, but in the colder weather it may well die,
if it doesn't manage to roost, with a full crop.
 
Cobra said:
The other thing to consider, Spars especially, put a lot of effort into a kill, it may be exhausted, and not have the energy / strength to hunt again.
They have a very high metabolic rate and put their all into kill.

During the summer if it misses out on a meal it may not be the end of the world, literally, but in the colder weather it may well die,
if it doesn't manage to roost, with a full crop.
Click to expand...

It did seem to be a bit out of breath, beak wide open.
 
ShinySideUp said:
It did seem to be a bit out of breath, beak wide open.
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It must have been a hard chase down, rather than an ambush, and of course its been over 25oC ( here anyway)
Try running a marathon in a coat of feathers.
When I was working, I wouldn't be flying birds in this weather, they'd be blocked out in the shade, with a bath available.
 
Cobra said:
It must have been a hard chase down, rather than an ambush, and of course its been over 25oC ( here anyway)
Try running a marathon in a coat of feathers.
When I was working, I wouldn't be flying birds in this weather, they'd be blocked out in the shade, with a bath available.
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I've often seen and tired birds. On the one hand, they really don't seem able to cope with exertion or stress, probably why they often die when picked up after being only slightly injured, but on the other hand, they seem well able to cope with winters that send me huddling by my fire.

As an aside, they also seem to be able to make noise far beyond their size -- as I sit here indoors trying to hear the TV over the sound of, what seems like, a million jackdaws in the nearby beech tree.
 
Our evening entertainment on holiday is watching the local flock of Eleonora's Falcons hunting at dusk. They could almost be giant Swallows as they flit about.

The afternoons in June are sometimes spent watching the Buzzard in the tree about 100' away from our balcony exercising and fledging but this year's baby seems to have been either blown down or fallen into a bamboo thicket just out of sight so we've only been watching the adults doing the food runs and flight demos. Typically, I made a deliberate decision to leave all the big kit at home and just take a compact for the year that they've been flying much closer to us than normal!!!
 
Nod said:
Eleonora's Falcons
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Reputedly faster than a peregrine in a teardrop stoop.
I've never flown an Eleonora's but having flown a few peregrines, I suggest the claims of speed ( Peregrine ) are grossly exaggerated..

When out in America, bird of prey hunting ( for banding as previously mentioned)
It was fun listing to the night hawks ( rarely seen though) diving for "Crepuscular", flying insects.
 
Never seen an Eleanora's in a stoop - they seem to be hunting insects rather than the plentiful local "pigeons" etc.. Apparently they nest/roost on a small island about 5km away (which is a nature reserve - strictly policed, although there is an exemption for 1 day every year when you can visit the island but are strictly herded along tracks to and from the church, although you are allowed to stop for a picnic! Lots of gulls and a herd of the indigenous Krikri goat/ibex are the normal inhabitants, with the EFs being Summer visitors.
 
More feral pigeon feathers on the lawn again today, its been a pretty regular occurrence since I mentioned it Monday.
Keep it up guys, there is still about 30 left, sitting on the roof right now, feel free to drop by any time...
 
Cobra said:
Reputedly faster than a peregrine in a teardrop stoop.
I've never flown an Eleonora's but having flown a few peregrines, I suggest the claims of speed ( Peregrine ) are grossly exaggerated..

When out in America, bird of prey hunting ( for banding as previously mentioned)
It was fun listening to the night hawks ( rarely seen though) diving for "Crepuscular", flying insects.
Click to expand...
too.

Crepuscular -- my favourite word, that and flocculent, that's a good word
 
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ShinySideUp said:
too.
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I wasn't the only one listening. :p
And yet you never corrected "listening" from listing, even if they were flying slightly off kilter.
( another good word)
 
I have no idea where 'too' came from, I think I must have been typing something in another window and it changed over just for that one word! Good job I wasn't typing anything sensitive! :D
 
B*l**cks! (Just typing something sensitive...)

ON TOPIC!!! We don't seem to get flying rats up here but we do get a few wood pigeons picking up the goldies' discards. Occasionally see a sparrowhawk passing through and have had one fencehop and fly between us when we were about 6' apart! It carried on feet first into the berberis but left empty clawed on that occasion.
 
Nod said:
We don't seem to get flying rats up here
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I think that some years ago, someone must have had a Loft, locally and moved away, they always hang round in a flock,
some are quite "fancy" too, the way they fly.
 
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