Window watching
A wild week with a raging gale and plenty of rain. As a result of having to spend so much time looking out of the window I was able to check on the activity of the male Sparrowhawk and what activity there has been. Last Sunday he caught a Starling which he ate over the next one hour fifty five minutes, with a rest for ten minutes in the middle! The next day he was in the garden for five hours watching for an opportunity to catch prey. None occured and at one point he was even looking to catch a Long Tailed Field Mouse but missed that also. The following day he caught a Starling again but this time I felt sorry for the Starling and went out to the rockery to intervene. He did not release his grip on the Starling until I was five feet away looking at me annoyingly for intervening. On the Wednesday he got his own back by flying into the lounge window at 6.30am and set the house alarm off! He was none the worse for it as he watched us inspect the window stood on the garden fence.
A visit to the hills during the week has produced pairs of Oyster Catchers returning plus Skylarks moving through. In one plantation a pair of Long Eared Owls were present and will soon lay their eggs in an old crow’s nest. Only one Woodcock has been seen this week but thirty five Fieldfares were moving east back to Scandinavia.
Gordon Yates
March 16, 2008
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