Sparrowhawk Attack

I was engaged in the mind numbing and boring task of cleaning the cooker this morning when I glanced out of the kitchen window to see a female sparrowhawk stealthily and speedily approaching the bird feeders from the top of the garden. As she reached the feeding station she almost seemed to hover for a second as her outstretched feet and claws made contact with an empty space where milliseconds earlier a bird had been feeding. She made a circuit of the feeders and then perched on the roof of next door's extension surveying the scene of her near miss. It all happened so quickly I am not sure what species had such a narrow escape. It was amusing to see a wood pigeon, rather stupidly I thought, still feeding on the grass under the feeders.

A magical moment which illustrates one of the things I love about birds, or any other aspect of natural history, whatever you are doing or wherever you are, something exciting or unusual can suddenly occur.