One of the special sightings this month was to see sparrowhawk racing along just above the river before surprising a group of pigeons around the next bend. If it was after pigeons, then it must have been a female. Only one in ten sparrowhawk attacks is successful, and at such a speed, the hunter often comes to grief by hitting an obstacle. There are reports of them hitting windows, cars and flying through open doors! A few weeks ago, when the water meadows were flooded, I watched a heron standing motionless looking for fish. I gave up after twenty minutes and the bird had not moved at all. Their patience seems almost infinite, and as a strategy to get food, it seemed almost the exact opposite of the sparrowhawk.
In the garden we had the pleasure of watching a thrush taking a bath in our small pond. There was a lot of splashing and then then a very careful preening of every single wing feather. The blackbirds are busy flicking over the fallen leaves in search of a morsel or two, while the sparrows are still hurtling about. Although getting mature now, they always seem like an excited group of teenagers!
The robin, with its relatively large eyes feeds earlier and later than most other birds, and our local bird looks particularly fit and in fine fettle. Let’s hope that our relatively mild weather continues into the New Year.
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