Oh well...

[soubie]

... that explains why there's been so few little birds in our garden feeders recently

[I suppose I should warn you about a slightly unsettling photo (though very good considering it's on maximum zoom through a grubby window...)]

Comments

[just_ann_now]

Oh, dear. But still: raptor! (We get excited whenever we see, or hear, any hawks falcons or whatnot. Mostly because we're proud of ourselves for recognizing them.)

Do you have crocuses? Snowdrops? Any flowering signs of spring?

[soubie]

Yes: the raptor is a sparrowhawk, probably a female (as they're considerably larger, at about 10lbs, 15" long and 22" wings), probably come down from the woods. (Kind of cool in that 30 years ago they were practically extinct. They're now secure, only sparrows are in population crisis, which may be why this one was hungry enough to take on something almost her own size. I suppose it must go in cycles.)

Some of the photos from this batch- you can see how close they're zoomed in, and this was about 40' away- show crocuses pushing up through the grass. Nothing has bloomed yet that I've noticed, but you don't expect that in Buxton til at least the end of Feb- the altitude moves spring back at least three weeks here. Still, a late snow (and we've have a fair bit) seems to get them going when they finally come. (I believe they have to get really cold, then warm up- because when it's really cold they know there's going to be no leaves on the deciduous trees they like to clump around so they've got to take advantage of the window.)

[jay_of_lasgalen]

Ah, yes. Nature, red in tooth and claw.

It's like wildlife documentaries - the thrill of the kill, yet you feel sorry for the victim.

[soubie]

Pretty much. (Although we were biased in this particular case; it's quite hard to tell but the prey here is actually a jackdaw (a jackdaw! Almost as big as the hawk, far larger than the RSPB book says sparrowhawks normally hunt!), and they have been a little annoying these last few years. But does explain what happened to the sparrows that used to come round...

[dreamdeer1]

It's a well-composed photo, with lots of drama. Tragedy and triumph locked in one image. Both birds look disturbingly expressive, but that's a goo thing. If we eliminated all disturbing art, we'd have plotless novels, sappy poems, and no Goya or Guernica. I shudder to think of the galleries full of Hello Kitty knockoffs.

[soubie]

Good grief, Dreamy, how did you sneak in under the radar? :) My mother took the photo actually (she happens to be doing an art course at the moment, but has done mostly landscapes).

I think it's the context that gives the birds their expressions- seeing as they don't communicate like that, I think if you look dispassionately their faces are pretty much as they always look, but it's hard to look at their eyes and not see human-like expressions appropriate to events, isn't it?