I have a few bird feeders in my garden. Feeding seed-eaters has resulted in a bit of a bonus: the bird activity has attracted a little sparrowhawk, the smallest of the family of sparrowhawks and goshawks. I usually get bronze mannikins, red-headed finches and laughing doves in large numbers at the feeding stations on both sides of my property, ideal prey for this little warrior that only weighs around 100 grams, or about equal to a laughing dove. A few weeks ago I briefly noticed a sparrowhawk-type accipiter in a tall tree next door, but the bird flew off before I could make an ID. Subsequently I noticed the feathers of laughing doves around both feeding stations and I wondered if I had a cat problem. In spite of the feeder being full with feed, this past Sunday I noticed no feeding activity taking place. As I was busy with a SABAP2 atlassing stint of my home patch on the day, I was moving around, getting to grips with every bush and tree to see what was hiding… Peering over the back wall, I surprised the Little Sparrowhawk that was napping off a crop filled with laughing dove. Fortunately it only moved from mid-stratum a metre or so higher up where I could still get good shots of the raptor. This pentad (2545_2925) that contains of the centre of Middelburg has seen 278 cards submitted, with 287 species noted, does not have a little sparrowhawk on its species list! Imagine the thrill of adding a new species to such a comprehensively atlassed pentad from the confines of one’s garden walls!
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 14:24:14 +0000
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