BUSTARD!! Or words to that effect.

[tim]

"Feeding the birds in the Autumn"?

'Spose they have to eat??

[tim]

[sally_cinnamon]

Yowzers!  He's making a meal of that!   :o

[tim]

Just hope he washes up afterwards - No1 Daughter is a vegetarian!!

[Robert_Brenchley]

She - the male is smaller, more brightly coloured, and certainly couldn't manage anything the size of a pigeon.

For a moment I thought you'd had a Great Bustard land in your garden. That would be quite a sight! They've now been re-introduced so a sighting isn't impossible.

[tim]

There's a better shot of Her - thanks, Robert!

[sally_cinnamon]

Impressive creatures, aren't they?

[Robert_Brenchley]

They are, but if you want something seriously impressive, try a big female goshawk. She's similar in appearance, but the size of a buzzard, and will tackle a goose. Hence the name.

[tim]

Oh! You learn every day?

[Carol]

Ooo  dear Tim and it was yet another collared dove that has succumbed to the talons of the Sparrowhawk.  My garden is also covered in feathers from a collared dove.  It must be on the menu for sparrowhawks  this week.   ::) ::)

[Emagggie]

Talking to a lottie neighbour today whilst watching a hawk this afternoon, he told of a sparrowhawk he saw this morning swooping down and carrying off a moorhen. :o

[Si]

Could be worse... Could have been taken by a cat.

[triffid]

Sorry; have to smile -- the expression on its face in your first pic makes it look like it's been caught in the middle of a particularly nasty pillowfight!

[gardenqueen]

Amazing photos Tim!

[tim]

In passing - with these (cheaper) digi-cameras, you have to press GO when the head is pecking, in the hope that it will be upright by the time the shutter clicks!!

[Robert_Brenchley]

That's what I hate about the things; they're no good for a moving target.

[Paulines7]

Ooo  dear Tim and it was yet another collared dove that has succumbed to the talons of the Sparrowhawk.  My garden is also covered in feathers from a collared dove.  It must be on the menu for sparrowhawks  this week.   ::) ::)

The reason that they may like Collared doves could be that the feathers pull out easily.  A group of them flew into my chicken shed through the hatch a few weeks ago and when I opened the door to let them out, one stupid one flew to the window and got wedged between the glass and the netting.   :(  I put my hand down to pull it out and a load of its tail feathers came out.   :-[  I eventually freed it and it was still able to fly despite having lost about a dozen feathers.  I had been very gentle with it so came to the conclusion that Collared doves feathers were easy to pull out.  It still upset me though as I had visions of the poor thing being disabled for a few weeks but when I saw how well it flew, it set my mind at rest.   ;D.

[Carol]

I have thought the same as you Pauline because I often find CD feathers - quite a few  lying around my gardens, as if a Sparrowhawk has caught one and then dropped it, so the CD leaves with quite a few feathers short.   ::) ::)

[valmarg]

As I put food out for the birds all year, we do have a sh--ehawk that treats the garden like a fly-through McDonalds.

I know they are a protected species, but nimby!!

The fact that they take collared doves is encouraging.  How many times have you sat out in your garden on a warm summer's evening, only to be disturbed by a cd going coo coo, coo coo on and on and on and on and on like a ten bob watch!!