Sparrowhawk Death Stare...

Sadly my camera has been put away over winter but on Saturday morning I just happened to spot this Sparrowhawk [Female] out of the window as I was going down for breakfast.  It's far from a great picture and the twig crossing her face does not add to the aesthetic, but given that it had been so long since I 'clicked' a picture, I wanted to capture this as a reminder of the potential nature photo opportunities that Longbeach Farm will yeild in 2024. 

Let's hope the phtography imporoves along with the weather and that I find the time to get out and about again on my little piece of Fenland soil to capture all creatures great and small.   

Sparrowhawk - Early breakfast (Click to enlarge pictures)

Sparrowhawk - Accipiter Nisus

While making my breakfast I glanced over to the trees near the bird feeder and saw that I was not the only thing up early and having breakfast at Longbeach farm! I had seen the Sparowhawk just the day before harassing some pigeons on the lawn, and occasionally I have seen a hawk dash past the bird feeders hoping to catch a finch or tit.

While it is sad to see a songbird come to an early demise, even the hawk has to feed and so goes the circle of nature. Amazing to be privileged to see such beautiful birds just meters from the kitchen window.

It was low light conditions so had to brighten the image outside of the camera resulting in a rather grainy image, but happy to have captured the shot dispite not noticing I had the Camera ISO set to a very low 200!