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Author Topic: Bird of prey in my garden! But what was it?  (Read 1414 times)

Malandro

Bird of prey in my garden! But what was it?
« on: 31 August, 2009, 09:29:19 am »
Sorry there are NO pictures!  I was too engrossed watching this bird through binoculars to even think about taking a photo.

It was sitting on the fence at around 5pm and remained there for 20 minutes or so.  It was less than a foot tall, head and wings mostly mid-grey, breast a lighter shade with darker banding / stripes. 

At first we thought it was an owl (a Little Owl) but it didn't have a facial disc like most owls do and it had no obvious ears, although its eyes were rather forward facing.  It actually reminded me of falcon (perhaps a merlin) with its neck pulled in. 

Ours was a suburban garden 2 miles from Edinburgh city centre and although we often hear owls at night I've never seen one. 

Any ideas?
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Jezza

Re: Bird of prey in my garden! But what was it?
« Reply #1 on: 31 August, 2009, 10:43:41 am »
Sparrowhawk?

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Malandro

Re: Bird of prey in my garden! But what was it?
« Reply #2 on: 31 August, 2009, 01:37:38 pm »
Possibly....if it was a bit more upright.  I only saw it from the front!

Still, not something you often see in a suburban garden!
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Clare

  • Is in NZ
Re: Bird of prey in my garden! But what was it?
« Reply #3 on: 31 August, 2009, 02:01:16 pm »
We used to have a regular sparrowhawk visitor in the back garden when we first moved back to Portsmouth. It perched on the roof of the bird table and waited for dinner to fly in!

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Tourist Tony

  • Supermassive mobile flesh-toned black hole
Re: Bird of prey in my garden! But what was it?
« Reply #4 on: 07 September, 2009, 12:22:50 pm »
Sparrowhawk. Also surprisingly common as a garden bird.
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Malandro

Re: Bird of prey in my garden! But what was it?
« Reply #5 on: 07 September, 2009, 12:30:58 pm »
I've looked at several pictures on the net since spotting it and I'm now convinced it was a sparrowhawk.  And I saw it again on Saturday (or maybe one of it's cousins) flying above the garden being harassed by rooks...
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Tourist Tony

  • Supermassive mobile flesh-toned black hole
Re: Bird of prey in my garden! But what was it?
« Reply #6 on: 08 September, 2009, 06:34:28 pm »
Quote from: Malandro on 07 September, 2009, 12:30:58 pm
I've looked at several pictures on the net since spotting it and I'm now convinced it was a sparrowhawk.  And I saw it again on Saturday (or maybe one of it's cousins) flying above the garden being harassed by rooks...
They have a very distinct flight style, flap-flap-glide, flap-flap-glide
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