One of the slight drawbacks of having a garden full of bird feeders and attracting a very large range of birds and at times large numbers, is having one of these call round. This is a male Sparrowhawk ( Accipiter nisus) who came in looking for dinner, as you might guess from his name he eats sparrows and other small birds. The male can take birds as large as a Blackbird. The female who also comes round is more brown, larger and can take prey as large as a pigeon. Beautiful, deadly and nice to see, as long as its not everyday!
