I love nature

Kess73

Last Saturday I posted when I finally came across Long Tail Tits in large numbers. Was the first time it happened to me in Ireland and I was over the moon.


Now I did post on here last year saying how I never came across them and it took a year for Nature to get back to me.


But I also posted earlier this year about the lack of goldfinch in my back garden, especially as a place not to far from my house had dozens of them anytime I was out running.

So I had to make do with the pair of goldfinch that visited my niger feeder pretty much each and every day.

But as of about half an hour or so ago, that pair of goldfinch quadrupled my garden's goldfinch population as I was greeted by the sound at first and then the sight of six young goldfinch all chirping away at the adults to be fed as the adults sat on the niger feeder.


Now that I know nature is finally listening to me, I want to get my requests in for a Jay to appear in my garden and for a confirmed Great White sighting in Irish waters.

whyulittle

I think Nature does fairly well by you, what with you regular Sparrowhawk hunting sprees. You could sell tickets to that!

Kess73

whyulittle wrote: »

I think Nature does fairly well by you, what with you regular Sparrowhawk hunting sprees. You could sell tickets to that!

Oh the male sprawk has been in devastating form the last week or so. With so many young sparrow about the place, his strike rate for actual kills from viewed attempts is about three kills from every four or five attempts. A far cry from the strike rates he gets earlier and later in the year when it goes down to about one in ten and even lower.

The fact there seems to be a bumper crop of house sparrow this year only gives him more choice.

Much as I like the house sparrows, I prefer for the sprawk to get some of their numbers than to be getting the flegling robin, tits, dunnock, goldfinch etc in great numbers than he does.

Some of the chases that occur when other species team up against the Hawk are great to watch as well. The swallows are always game to harrass a hawk and can often force the sprawk to go up high to try and avoid them. But their divebombing of the hawkl when he is on a wall is amazing to watch. The swallows will gain altitude then come down at speed and literally come within inches of the perched hawk, making a loud chirp as they pass him.

Then if they get him airborne, they mob him with numbers and this often brings flocks of feral pigeons, starling and an assortment of corvids into the fray, which ends up with the sprawk flying away every so slowly with dozens and dozens of birds following him.


I also watch a pair of rooks try to take him on a week or two ago. But they caught him on a bad day because he had no interest in being driven away and he was very vocal when they tried to buzz him in the air and a few times he veered towards whichever one was trying to move him on, causing the crow to take some evasive manouveurs.


Once mama sprawk is back in full rotation, the pigeons and corvids tend to lose their boldness as she is a bigger than average female whom I have seen taking magpie and jackdaws on a regular basis each winter before the flocks of redwing arrive..

whyulittle

You're just rubbing it in now!

trebor28

Kess,
you really need to invest in a good camcorder for us mere mortals to view such enjoyable antics!

Kess73

trebor28 wrote: »

Kess,
you really need to invest in a good camcorder for us mere mortals to view such enjoyable antics!

If I was any good in terms of using one, I would indeed get great footage as a lot of the action takes place within feet of me when I am in the garden, and at this point I am pretty damn good at predicting the angles at which he is going to make his next attack from.


There was a time when he would not attack with me in the garden, but since the female started sitting, and especially now that the chicks have fledged but still need some feeding, he is making attempts and flying within a foot or so of my head. On one of two of his attacks when I have been near the bushes or one of the trees I have gotten to feel the rush of wind against the top of my head.


He also stands his ground and watches me at times, and I can get remarkably close to him before he moves. One Boardsie who is involved with Falconry pm'd me some time back about him and was good enough to answer my questions as to why the sprawk may be doing certain things in relation to how he has responded/reacted to me on a number of occasions.

The good thing for "my" hawks is that I own the land behind my house, and the nest is pretty central on that land so the hawks have a somewhat safe enviroment in terms of very few people ever crossing their paths whilst on or over those acres as well as while on or over my house and gardens.

trebor28

ok scratch the camcorder and open up some kind of viewing station!