"Feeding the birds in the Autumn"?
'Spose they have to eat??
Yowzers! He's making a meal of that! :o
Just hope he washes up afterwards - No1 Daughter is a vegetarian!!
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.
There's a better shot of Her - thanks, Robert!
Impressive creatures, aren't they?
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.
Oh! You learn every day?
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. ::) ::)
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
Could be worse... Could have been taken by a cat.
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!
Amazing photos 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!!
That's what I hate about the things; they're no good for a moving target.
Quote from: Carol on October 19, 2006, 19:48:20
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.
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. ::) ::)
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!!