We do have a visiting Sparrow Hawk and the Collar Doves are the most Vunerable because they are always Billing and Cooing to each other and dont see the Hawk untill it is too late We do have a lot of young Doves 2 broods this year from several sometimes 30 flying around as we all feed them from 4 bungalows We are fortunate to have everything in the Garden Great tits yellow hammers Woodpeckers both colours Tame blackbirds that will eat the Cat food while the silly cat watches too old to move !
Chaffinches are plentiful and several nests of Sparrows The babies sit on the fence and the mother is frantically flying back and forth to feed them although they are really able to feed themselves We have wonderful pictures of a nest of Robins 5 babies and all survived to fledge and the pictures of them coming out of the nest We have Buzzards but there are plenty of Rabbits for them in the woods or the field so they dont come near to the houses Greenfinches and Bullfinches we have we put out crushed peanuts Sunflower seeds and a very good mixture of smaller seeds as well as corn all through the year .Hanging and seed on the ground slabs My husband is now making some fresh boxes for the winter roostings We can sit in the Garden and they dont take any notice of us We did have a French Partridge in March which was a Surprise but it only came for a few days It had Red legs and red beak
We also have a sparrowhawk in our garden. It has killed most of our collar doves, blackbirds and sparrows. This year we have put 6ft poles, 10" apart, around the area where we feed the birds. It does not look very elegant but it has saved so many birds. The sparrowhawk swoops down to catch them but the poles break his flight and the little birds have time to escape. It has caused many a comment, but at least we have more birds this year. Why not try it.
Living on the moors we do get the odd sparrowhawk we have had buzzards also a merlin flew into my kitchen I had to open a window for him to get out. A peragrin also passes by.
We get birds like twite, wheatears, meadow pippets. even a black red start.Stone chats, goldfinches, lapwings, Green woodpeckers, and reedbuntings. I would love to have sparrows but we only get the odd one passing through.
I whole heartedly agree with you. The wonderfully diverse range of birds that we use to enjoy have been desimated with a sparrow hawk and because we are so remote the sparrow hawk is permanent. I have seen it rip nestlings from very secure nests, with the anguished parents bravely squawking in protest. When I try to put up mesh barriers it simply waits for the birds to come out.
I contacted RSPB to seek a licence to control the sparrow hawk. They said that I could not touch it.
I cannot understand RSPB's sadistic pleasure in condemning so many birds to a gruesome end.
Think of the Sparrowhawk as the ecological equivalent of a leopard or other big cat. By helping to maintain a healthy community of small birds, you are conserving a top predator. If small birds weren't thriving in our gardens where would he Sparrowhawk be?
We have a duty to preserve nature in all it's tremendous variety. Even the creatures we don't like. Would we want all the big cats dead because they like to eat people's cattle in another country?
Has anybody noticed the decrease in sparrow numbers in ireland. I seem to have a rather large amount of robins now and very few sparrows. Mmm curious indeed.
I totally agree with bwallum's eco terrorism point. In the past 3 days a pair of sparrowhawks have killed four of my doves, badly injured a fifth which I don't think will survive, and four are missing. This stuff about the hawks killing quickly is nonsense. The sparrowhawks eat the doves alive. With the last bird I found they had ripped out its back and were eating its organs and it was still very much alive. I had to kill it myself.
I get the preserve nature red in tooth and claw argument, but it is totally traumatising to watch your birds die like this.
It used to be that whenever I was stressed I could just walk down to the paddock and watch the doves, the most soothing and peaceful birds imaginable, so beautiful, friendly, affectionate and calm. Now they are decimated, missing, or the remaining ones are terrified and confined to an aviary for their own protection, but that can only be temporary as I don't believe in keeping birds caged.
I will try the post idea, plus hanging CDs in trees which is supposed to interrupt the hawks vision. What else can I do?
we have had a few sparrows taken last year by the sparrow hawk and a couple of starlings ripped apart in sight of the kitchen window, but most of our garden birds get away by diving straight into the shelter of the Forsythia, i think the only thing to do is to buy more defense shrubs and place them in the garden, so our little feathered friends have a place to duck and cover when this brutal killer is looking for a quick meal.
Well I was very surprised recently to hear a "commotion" at the bottom of my tiny suburban garden recently. When I looked out saw a male Sparrowhawk sitting on the fence with a blue tit in his claws (I only know it was a Sparrowhawk as I checked it on RSPB bird identifier site). Next door has hazel and pear trees and lots of little birds live in them. I feed the birds with nuts, fat balls and seed plus water of course. I was a bit taken aback but also surprised he was in my garden. So far this year I've also had a lesser spotted woodpecker and a green parakeet - all this in 30 feet by 12 feet. I guess its a fine line between not feeding them at all and them leaving, or losing the odd one.
Posts
Chaffinches are plentiful and several nests of Sparrows The babies sit on the fence and the mother is frantically flying back and forth to feed them although they are really able to feed themselves We have wonderful pictures of a nest of Robins 5 babies and all survived to fledge and the pictures of them coming out of the nest We have Buzzards but there are plenty of Rabbits for them in the woods or the field so they dont come near to the houses Greenfinches and Bullfinches we have we put out crushed peanuts Sunflower seeds and a very good mixture of smaller seeds as well as corn all through the year .Hanging and seed on the ground slabs My husband is now making some fresh boxes for the winter roostings We can sit in the Garden and they dont take any notice of us We did have a French Partridge in March which was a Surprise but it only came for a few days It had Red legs and red beak
We get birds like twite, wheatears, meadow pippets. even a black red start.Stone chats, goldfinches, lapwings, Green woodpeckers, and reedbuntings. I would love to have sparrows but we only get the odd one passing through.
I contacted RSPB to seek a licence to control the sparrow hawk. They said that I could not touch it.
I cannot understand RSPB's sadistic pleasure in condemning so many birds to a gruesome end.
It it eco terrorism at it's worse.
We have a duty to preserve nature in all it's tremendous variety. Even the creatures we don't like. Would we want all the big cats dead because they like to eat people's cattle in another country?
I get the preserve nature red in tooth and claw argument, but it is totally traumatising to watch your birds die like this.
It used to be that whenever I was stressed I could just walk down to the paddock and watch the doves, the most soothing and peaceful birds imaginable, so beautiful, friendly, affectionate and calm. Now they are decimated, missing, or the remaining ones are terrified and confined to an aviary for their own protection, but that can only be temporary as I don't believe in keeping birds caged.
I will try the post idea, plus hanging CDs in trees which is supposed to interrupt the hawks vision. What else can I do?