I hadn't been down the track for weeks, but 3 discrete piles of feathers alongside a stretch of hedge told their own story.
This is a classic sparrowhawk ambush location - fly low and hard along the arrow-straight hedgeline and grab the birds that get spooked into flying the wrong way.
The track is little used so time to pluck and feast without disturbance. Despite the time I've spent here subsequently though I only ever saw one brief glimpse of a hawk in flight.
In the summer we could hear the begging calls of young raptors from a treeline, and I'm sure these were sparrowhawks too, but again I only ever once saw an adult powering over the fields. Second year we have heard them. Access to the trees might be possible, at least to look for evidence of a nest, so I'll add chatting to the landowners to the list for this winter, but the chance of getting good shots of the birds is probably very low.
However one day I was washing the dishes (honest) and saw this beauty sitting in the birch tree outside the window. I know from past experience trying to shoot through glass is pretty useless, and opening a window this close would be likely to spook the bird. Nipped upstairs and grabbed a camera and lens, sneaked out the back door and slowly poked the lens round the corner of the house. The bird looked over at me then went back to staring into the tree canopy for it's next meal, completely unfazed.
I tried edging round the corner a bit more and it remained quite relaxed. In the end I was standing in front of the kitchen window and it just didn't care.
