Juvenile Sparrowhawk Tries Hunting

A juvenile Sparrowhawk arrived at lunchtime today and sat on the fence at the bottom of our garden for an incredible 35 minutes, just observing the birds on the various feeders. We took an HD Video of this.

Amazingly Blue Tits were feasting on the peanut feeder only 12 feet away, but the 'Sprawk' just sat there eyes affixed staring not seeming to know what to do. Eventually a rather poor attempt at grabbing a Blue Tit was made, but it was just too fast for the Sparrowhawk and escaped into the bushes. The Sparrowhawk quickly conceded defeat and flew off towards Greenham Common. It seems that it needs a lesson in effective hunting from its Dad who has been much more successful in recent visits.

Interestingly, a video I took shows this as a ringed bird.