[steve_nova]

What a fabulous day it has been today. Still, clear blue cloudless skies from horizon to horizon. A perfect day to do some gardening (and some bird watching of course).
I saw a pair of Kestrels in mid courtship ending in the male bird alighting upon the females back with a loud kek kek kek kek announcing his triumph! I have never seen this before, in fact, I have never seen two Kestrels together before.
A pair of Magpies were being particularly noisy with their machine gun chack chack chack and I suddenly noticed two Carrion Crows silently drop over the top of next doors house and land in the tall conifer next door. They were deliberately tormenting the two Magpies who were now dive bombing them, almost buffeting them as they swept past. Loud cawing then ensued and the two Crows must have known that they were near the Magpies nest. They will be back.
A Song Thrush was singing his heart out at the top of a tree over the road, quite oblivious to the shenanigans less than fifty yards away. It was I presume the same one I saw two weeks ago. I hope he finds a mate, or do they have several?
The obligatory gardeners friend, a Robin was following me around for upturned tit bits. Amazing how close they can get to you too. Then what I thought at first to be a Thrush materialized into a Jay. It was just flying very high up so looked quite small though now unmistakably a Jay as it passed overhead. It headed straight for the woodland beyond the fields a mile or so away.
The late afternoon ended with Blackbirds, Songthrush, and a Starling in full song, each seeming to vie with the each others aria.
I did actually get a lot done in the garden, but the distractions were a nice occasional diversion.

[Andrew]

Call me next time you do some gardening and I will help you out!

[steve_nova]

Well Andrew, I was round at my mum and dads helping in their garden as they are opening for the Red Cross again this year. I agreed to help her (mum) get it ready for the big day.
I am there to give advice on the day too.
Anyone up in the area in August (not sure of the exact day) is welcome to come round.

[Andrew]

Is this part of the 'Gardens for Charity' or summat like that where folk open their gardens to the public for donations. These are very good as we get to see real people's gardens.

[steve_nova]

Yes, thats the idea anyway. Everything thats made that day goes, in this case to the Red Cross.
My mum and dad have a large garden with some really interesting plants in it.
A Sparrow Hawk uses one part of the lawn near the far hedge as a regular place to pluck the breast feathers of her prey. There is often a patch of feathers on the grass up there.
I have two photo's of her doing this, one in Summer, and one in Winter. Poor quality, but I will post them if you want to see them.

[Andrew]

Yes please, dear!

[Booga]

Groovey day all round then, I've been doing a spot of gardening the past few days too, same with my robins, I reckon the'll be eating from my hand by the end of the week at this rate!

[Andrew]

The soil is ready for turning. The calcified seaweed should have done it's winter liming job and the Sweet peas need to be put out as they are fall over in their pots. The runner bean trench is full of waste and needs covering now.

[steve_nova]

1st pic

[steve_nova]

2nd pic

[steve_nova]

3rd pic

[steve_nova]

same bird in summer

[steve_nova]

None of these pics are worthy of being anywhere else but at the end of this post!
Could only use the camera at hand though with minimal zoom.

[Booga]

Steve mate, I think that the BF galleries are for Photos like yours above anything else. OK, we have some of the finest Nature photoraphers in the world but that's not to say the rest of us don't get a look in.

What you have here are some prime examples of a bird doing what it was created for, killing and eating prey. And a lot of people might not have had a chance to see a Sparrowhawk that close or feeding so would be very grateful for the opportunity.

BTW the picture quality is pretty good from where I'm sitting!

CHeers

[steve_nova]

Thanks Wil, I will put them up then.

Cheers.

[Andrew]

Great pictures and thanks very much for sharing them with us. They are good enough for the forum especially numbers two and three showing the oranges in the eyes.

[KCFoggin]

Sounds like you did indeed have a glorious day and your photos of the sparrow hawk and its prey are a neat look see that a lot of us don't get a chance at.