Sparrowhawk (click here to see other Sparrowhawk pictures)

The hunter is trapped ! April 4th 2002 and a dilemma.

The text message on the mobile 'phone informed me that a drake Garganey at Far Ings was showing very well.
Shortly afterwards, a call from my wife to say that a female Sparrowhawk had been unable to find its way out
of her fuchsia shelter, after chasing prey through the door way. Hurrying home from work, I saw that the Sparrowhawk had still not located the aperture through which it had entered the shelter, possibly being put off by the fact that the loosely hanging plastic mesh was moving around in the breeze.

Garganey or Sparrowhawk? The decision was not difficult to make. How often is there a chance to take photographs of a Sparrowhawk at a range of 15 feet? Surprisingly, the bird was very calm. Now and then it would fly at the sides of the shelter and hang on to the mesh. It would then return to sit on the staging. There was not the continual panic that I had expected.

It was a dull evening, deciding upon the correct exposure for a dark bird against a light background was not easy.
I tried several different camera settings, this resulted in about 75% of my shots finding their way into the waste bin.
The video camera dealt better with the tricky light and I got several nice grabs.

The full size image is from my still camera with 500mm f4.5 lens. The close-up is a video grab. After completing the photography, I pegged back the door flap and the Sparrowhawk flew out. Next day it was back in the garden, causing mayhem amongst the birds coming to our feeders!

No chance of seeing the Garganey next day, it had gone.

Roy Harvey.

Sparrowhawk, Lincolnshire April 4th 2002, a video grab © Roy Harvey. (Background changed in Photoshop 5.0)

Sparrowhawk, Lincolnshire April 4th 2002, still camera with 500mm f4.5 lens © Roy Harvey.

Sparrowhawk male Water’s Edge Barton preening and resting in the sun at a favoured roost site. © Graham Catley 2001- Digi-scoping combination Nikon Coolpix 880 and Swarovski scope.

Male Sparrowhak hunting Snipe at North Killingholme wader pits (they really do come this orange no filtration) November 6th 2001 by Graham Catley

Male Sparrowhawk at North Killingholme wader pits (they really do come this orange no filtration) © Graham Catley

Male Sparrowhawk at North Killingholme wader pits (they really do come this orange no filtration) © Graham Catley

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