Sparrowhawks. Blasted nuisances. Far too many of them about. Killing all the smaller birds. Should be shot on sight.
I have one that "visits" my garden every day. I call him Sydney after one of our members here. When he first came he was quite small but then he..erm..grew.
He's fully grown now. He's been coming for a few years. If I'm around I can usually shoo him off before he catches anything, although he seems so tame I did at first think he was someone's escaped pet. If I dash out yelling and clapping my hands, he flies
towards me. My mother once chased him all round the garden with a broom before he flew off. (That would have been worth videoing incidentally.) He's such a beautiful bird and performs stunning aerobatics, and of course he has to eat too. I just wish he'd go somewhere else.
When I bring a tiny puppy home in a couple of weeks I'll have to go outside with him when he goes in the garden. There are several birds of prey around here and I saw one take quite a big rabbit once on the nature reserve. Until the pup gets quite a bit bigger I think he would be prey.
