The Sparrowhawk
Out in the biting cold
About 2 years ago, my partner came in enthusiastically on a cold but sunny December day. "Hetty grab your camera and come out quickly!" When he comes in like that, I know not to ask anything, but quickly grab my camera and run outside. So no sooner said than done, there I was… in the biting cold, asking to see what was going on. At first, I didn't see anything that grabbed my attention, until I went to see where my partner was and what he was doing. He stood in the back of the garden looking at the fence and kept a respectable distance from the fence.
Bird of prey in our hazel bush
Cautiously I walked in his direction, and suddenly I saw it. A beautiful bird of prey that was sitting in our hazel bush. And not nervously, but quietly at ease, this bird was watching us as closely as we were watching it. Well, afterwards I learned that it is a female. At that time, I honestly didn't know at all what kind of bird of prey I was dealing with, but later I learned from a friend of mine that this is a female Sparrowhawk. And that this Sparrowhawk probably ended up here because we always took good care of the finches, sparrows and tits that lived in the area.
A Sparrowhawk mainly has these songbirds on its diet. Unfortunately for the songbirds, and unfortunately for us, because we thoroughly enjoyed the little stuff around the house.
At the time, I was mainly impressed
At that time, I didn't know it all, and I was mainly impressed by this bird of prey in my garden. It's something I don't experience every day. And although I was used to seeing buzzards high in the sky by now, I had never encountered a bird of prey in my garden. Now there will be a 1st time for everything, and that also turns out to apply to an encounter with a bird of prey in your garden. So that day was my first time there.
The Sparrowhawk sat quietly, and for a moment we doubted whether the beast had something wrong with the wings, And we doubted whether we should not help him (her). Until my partner tried to approach the Sparrowhawk from another position. That moment we knew that this Sparrowhawk had nothing wrong with the wings and that she had just been resting in the hazel tree. And that was also when this unexpected photo shoot came to an end.
A few more facts about the Sparrowhawk
The females are twice as large and heavy as the males, and also catch larger prey. Although most of the prey they catch weigh between 50 and 70 grams, the females can catch prey that weighs up to half a kilo.
The Sparrowhawk is monogamous as long as they can reproduce with this mate. If no chicks are born in a year, the pair will first look for a new location together. If no chick is born in the next weather, the female will usually look for a new territory and a new partner. The male stays in the old nest and looks for a new mate from there.
A Sparrowhawk is not the fastest bird of prey, but can reach a speed of 120 km per hour. That is faster than we are allowed to drive on most highways in the Netherlands. The speed of a Sparrowhawk is therefore not exactly bad.
Sparrowhawks contribute to a healthier bird population because they are able to select birds that are infected with blood parasites such as leucocytozoon and malaria.
I'm not a bird photographer
In general, I am not a bird photographer, nor do I have the right lenses for it. But this encounter was the well-known exception that proves the rule, and at a time like this you just have to make do with what you have. Fortunately, at that time my 70-300 telephoto lens was on my camera, and I was still able to take some decent pictures. But beyond the photos… the images are forever stored in my memory.
Because regardless of the fact that the Sparrowhawk is not known as a shy bird of prey, that the Sparrowhawk is certainly not the largest or rarest bird of prey, it was a moment to never forget. And it is certainly not normal for a Sparrowhawk to sit so quietly on a branch just two meters away from you.
The result of this Sparrowhawk visit was less fun, because the great tits and blue tits that we always saw fluttering around the house so cheerfully, have disappeared. Now two years later we notice that they are slowly starting to come back…