photo credit: https://www.goodenberghleisure.co.uk/sparrow-hawk-at-the-hide/
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I couldn’t have taken this photo, or one very like it, for all sorts of reasons. I’d just popped outside to do some qigong and soak up a bit of late-day sun. All was still in Bishops Castle: the light dreamy; the glow of old gold. There was of course the quarter-hour chime of the townhall clock, and then from across the street, the tones of convivial chatter between two neighbours’ were also finding their way into the garden.
And so to qigong. I was more than halfway through the shibashi set, performing ‘wave hands like clouds’, when the hawthorn tree over the hedge suffered a missile strike. Swift crash through vegetation. Something aerial shot down our path and landed on the rail by the garden steps. And there it stayed – only a few yards away, while I froze mid-cloud waving, right arm skywards, flamenco-style.
Posed thus, I of course thought of my camera. Silly. It was in the house, and I dared not move. So instead, I watched, while the sparrowhawk (a young male I think) sat on our fence, looking like it owned the place, from time to time turning its head as if to eavesdrop on the chatter across the road. It ignored me though, yet it surely must have spotted me with those sharp raptor eyes.
On the other hand, it was possibly busy gathering itself after a failed assault on some lucky bluetit. I watched for several minutes. Until it wheeled off over the hedge into town, the distinctive barred tail feathers, spread like a fan against the sun.
The Farrells’ new back garden. There’s an awful lot to sort out, but in the meantime, visiting sparrowhawks are a welcome addition. Some days we have red kites too, wafting high overhead.
You can find out more about sparrowhawks HERE.
