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Probably a Sparrowhawk - they need to feed (like us, unless you are a vegetarian) and that means killing other birds. It is all perfectly natural. If we attract wildlife to our gardens, then we are likely to see all aspects of the cycle of life. Small birds in turn will catch and kill beautiful butterflies...

Took a few hours out to mix a bit of fresh air with some quality wildlife watching at Fowlmere yesterday, nice brisk walk around the site, lots of the regulars about but it was the action around roosting time that I was interested to see. I'm a massive owl fan but no sign of them however the entertainment...

We're currently preparing for BGBW this weekend. Up until a couple of weeks ago, 'squadrons' of house-sparrows were visiting our hanging feeders - as usual! Then a male Sparrow Hawk appeared on the scene. Although initially, he didn't seem to cause too much disruption to feeding activity...

Hi, I have just joined. I have feeders in trees right outside my study window (about 2 feet away) and constantly have Sparrowhawks swooping in trying to get the birds. It's a game of wits as I try to place obstacles to stop him taking the small birds. My regular daily visitors are loads of...

Thank you all so much for your kind comments about my photo, and for your valuable information. TJ & Jenni I guessed she was an immature bird as she wasn't that large. She was definitely behaving normally, and her sharp eyes never once failed to spot any small bird that moved. When she flew...

I was going upstairs today and out of the corner of my eye I spotted a bird perched in the tree at the bottom of my garden. It looked very wet and it was against a fairly dark sky but I recognised it immediately as a Sparrowhawk. I dashed downstairs as fast as I could and fired off loads of photos...

For those interested in the photography element... 1. This is the original RAW file - not great when you first open it up. I use Nikon ViewNX 2. I was able to add in two stops exposure compensation, then I added a little brightness and colour boost before sharpening the image. 2. The image...

Happy New Year everyone! We hope you had a fantastic holiday – we certainly did with lots of wildlife to see around the reserve. Plenty of our regular birds have been seen including long tailed tits , little owl , redwing , fieldfare , reed bunting , gadwall , teal and wigeon and Perry Lane...

The trees and hedgerows of Perry Lane are crammed with redwings and fieldfare feeding, a water pipit appears to have taken up residence in the reedbeds and the starlings are still treating us to spectacular displays – winter is well and truly here. It’s impossible to visit Newport Wetlands...

I have many birds in my garden from Blue / Great / Longtailed / Coal Tits alongside Goldfinches, Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, Nuthatches, Robins, Sparrow, Chaffinches and starlings but I have never seen this anywhere before. The link below has a collection of photo's I got following a din in the...

My brother filmed this sparrowhawk this morning at the bottom of our garden, please take a look at his video, also we think it's a young female but we are not such any help?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnRHkwcY2i8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

What a great way to end a busy day in the visitor centre. At 3.45 pm I headed down to North Hide to check out the growing starling roost. After a gorgeous sunny late autumn day, it was becoming a bit overcast and misty, but the sunset was still impressive, if short-lived. Small flocks of starlings...

Sunday gave us great views of a flock of over twenty Crossbills feeding on a Larch just past Ashway Gap. It's the first time that we've seen Crossbills on this side of Dove Stone; so far the best place to see Crossbills has been at Binn Green. At Ashway Gap itself there were two male Bullfinches...

This Sunday we have the second of our guided bird id walks that follows on from September’s walk in which we looked at bird song and behaviour. This time round we’ll be taking a particular look at winter migrants to Dove S tone. Fieldfares have just started to arrive at Dove Stone....

A quick update on recent sightings at Dove Stone. On one of our regular guided walks yesterday, this time up to Chew Reservoir, there were sightings of quite a few Meadow pippits, Wheatear, Sparrowhawk and House martins all seen from the Chew path. Up on the tops there were Red grouse and although we...

Early autumn is a really good time to watch out for a very special bird in your garden. Young sparrowhawks are striking out on their own into the big, wide world and we get a lot of queries about mystery birds of prey seen in gardens. Roughly 90 per cent of the time, they turn out to be sparrowhawks...

A great sight this morning in the sunshine at The Lodge, 4 buzzards, a red kite and a sparrowhawk all soared together in the skies above the gatehouse shop.The sparrowhawk was first seen, bombing the red kite and generally giving it a hard time! Yesterday, 3 hobbies were seen in the air together,it will...

Here is Ken Croft's latest write-up: "The month started with two Green Sandpipers, one of which remained until the 4th, three Spotted Flycatchers were present on the 1st and a juvenile Bullfinch fed with the Linnet flock. The next day new migrants were a Lesser Whitethroat and a Grasshopper...

Visiting Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust on a cold Decemember day - a sparrowhawk on a fence post flew down to a drainage ditch,then, amazingly, across to stand up to its boots in water below the hide where it blessed us with a defiant stare.

Looking for a meal or just resting?

Crashing foliage drew my attention and I rushed to the window. A bewildered young sparrowhawk was attempting to regain its composure on the side wall. Task forgotten, I lingered as long as the bird in reverential gratitude.

Mixed emotions! I watched a sparrowhawk swoop down into my garden and catch a goldfinch. It plucked the little bird, then carried it onto my low wall, where it proceeded to eat it. Nature!

One Sunday afternoon a sparrowhawk swooped down and tried to pick up a large pigeon in its talons, on our back garden, the pigeon only escaped by flying into the garage and the sparrow hawk flew off without his Sunday dinner. Fantastic sight.

One Sunday morning, whilst browsing the Sunday papers, I heard a dull thud, then my partner linda called "quick look at this". I looked out to see a sparrowhawk greedily devouring a pigeon, this went on for some 40 minutes or so, I was enRAPTORed !!

A female sparrowhawk lay stunned after hitting our window. Before she recovered and flew away, I marvelled at the mosaic of brown plumage, strong yellow legs with grasping talons and the most amazing yellow eyes.

As I parked my car at home there was a sparrowhawk sitting on the fence right next to me. It turned as I switched off the engine and looked at me through the window for a couple of minutes. In the sun it looked magnificent and I felt privileged.

I stood transfixed as a female sparrowhawk chased and caught a long-tailed tit. Other people passed by, going about their business, and no-one else noticed these wonderful birds. The sparrowhawk had his dinner. Nature's often cruel, always amazing!