Sparrowhawk with House Sparrow prey

Sparrowhawk feeding on a freshly killed female House Sparrow, using an old football as a plucking post. Its unusual to see a female Sparrowhawk bird take a such a small passerine, as there are much larger Collared Doves and Wood Pigeons around the garden in abundance.

A rarer site, a male Sparrowhawk on the roof ridge surveying the garden for a dropped and lost meal.


The great escape, moments after this picture was taken the Pied Wagtail was ambushed by the male Sparrowhawk. Both birds 'bounced' into our patio window, enabling the wagtail to escape.


Sparrowhawks are ever-present around the garden at the moment with local breeding hawks and also wintering birds whose temporary territories criss-cross the village. And no wonder, as we have in the garden plenty of prey species feeding on seed daily. There are up to 20 Yellowhammers, and similar numbers of Chaffinch and House sparrow with added variety from a Brambling, 2-3 Greenfinch and 6 Siskins. The Sparrowhawks have opportunistically taken Wood pigeon, Collared Dove, Chaffinch, House Sparrow from the garden. The good news is that an attack on a Pied Wagtail in front of our feet on the garden deck was unsuccessful! And strangely, the Yellowhammers, who always seem to be the last to react never seem to be caught.

I don't think there is cause for concern about the Sparrows being overly -predated by Sparrowhawk, as Shadoxhurst has a large House Sparrow population. House Sparrow numbers fluctuate between 20 -40 in number feeding just in our own garden.

House sparrows in the garden are for good reason very flighty in character, and are particularly nervous just by the presence of lense reflections from my own binoculars (from 50 feet!). At dusk, it could be that there are 100 -200 roosting in the garden hedge. Roosting birds fly there from all directions and are quickly hidden deep in the foliage of Ivy and Dog Rose, away from the long-legged reach of Sparrowhawks.

Other recent records include, a Little Egret still present in the village. It can often be watched from the patio window collecting insects from horse dung in the pasture behind the garden.The same pastures have hundreds of Redwing and occasional Fieldfare feeding -up in preparation for their homeward spring journeys.

We are seeing Buzzard and Kestrel frequently, and Merlin has been seen twice. Little Owls too, are never far away, one bird calling at mid-day yesterday. Great spotted and Green Wooodpecker are ever present, but sadly its been 18 months since we've seen a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Magpies are nest building high in the canopy of a Spruce and we first saw Song Thrushes nest building in late February. Moorhens, Jays, Red legged Partridge, Pheasant and Jackdaw are also attracted to the bird seed in the garden. There is a evening flock of 60 Pied wagtails the largest I've seen in the village, present in the field behind the garden before moving on to roost.

ISS and Space Shuttle Discovery - the last rendevous

Inspired by recent images I've seen of the International Space Station taken from Earth, I thought I'd take advantage of the clear night skies we are experiencing at the moment, and have a go at snapping a picture myself. The ISS is easy to spot, and even easier if you use 'heavens-above' web site for latest sightings.

Here's the link - http://www.heavens-above.com. Just enter your location from the database.

I've always enjoyed watching the ISS as it passes majestically overhead. Through binoculars its speed appears spectacular and its glow intensifies brilliantly as it passes directly over the garden, easily dwarfing any stars present. It just makes you feel good every time. And, I've been forcing/showing (?) my kids to see the ISS since they were toddlers. Rushing them down the garden, arms pointing to space and excitedly trying to be the first to spot the ISS clearing the horizon. All very much in the same way as my father did, showing me the Flying Scotsman steam train in the 60's. At 11 and 14 my boys are too 'grown-up' to step out into the garden and view it with me now. Still, my wife joins me - its great to share these things!
Somewhere at the back of the ISS (not the pointy bit) the Space Shuttle Discovery is docked, on its last mission to the station. Facts worth noting (as I forget them myself all the time), the ISS is 80 m wide and is orbiting approx 358 km altitude and travelling at 27,000 kph.

To see how to photograph the ISS properly, have a look at this superb video by a German astronomer: http://www.astroewers.de/index/raumstatueb/iss-sts133discovery110301/iss-sts133discovery110301e.htm

Winter Seawatch at Dungeness fishing boats

Red breasted Merganser feeding under Cormorants

Saturday, January 29th: Two hours lively sea-watching huddled behind a fishing boat and sheltered from a very bitter north-easterly wind had some rewards. A scarce Red breasted Merganser feeding amongst a raft of Great Crested Grebes being one of them. Far out to sea, many flights of Guillemots and Razorbills, (Guillemots in summer plumage), were also feeding in drifting, rolling rafts often disappearing behind white choppy waters. Sadly, despite the onshore wind, all birds were just too far out for any crisp images. Overhead, flights of Brent Geese sometimes tagging along with Cormorants criss-crossed the point in search of calmer feeding areas. To add to the excitement, Red-throated Divers were also present. Some were content to feed and others racing through, seemingly charged up by the loud, bracing and very cold wind. Behind me, on the beach and above Jarmen's Cottage, an increasingly common sight for birders at Dungeness; two Ravens cart-wheeled into the sky chased by a mob of Crows - great stuff.

Red-throated Diver undaunted by strong N.E. wind

Bittern at Dungeness

Another mostly overcast day, didn't really promise much photography (again!). But with a couple of spare hours, on a fast diminishing Christmas break, I half-heartedly took a flying visit to Dungeness in search of Bitterns. My luck was again 'in', heading straight to the Scott Hide on the Dungeness RSPB reserve, gave me some close encounters of these elusive and beautiful birds. The reserve has many Bitterns present at the moment and they have become faithful to favourite feeding spots. Spending most of the day hidden in the Reed bed, two birds flew in to feed just in front of the hide at dusk, giving breathtaking views. Such is the cleverness of modern DSLR cameras, that despite near darkness, I managed to collect a few worthwhile images. Will post more soon.

Shadoxhurst Little Egret, - a once rare visitor

A pair of Little Egrets has established themselves around the streams which serve the village this winter. They're easy to spot, as they often rest on the field verges, or are seen flying over the village. Many people (mostly our village dog walkers) must have seen them in recent weeks.

Despite the cold weather, frequent disturbance and the stream seemingly choked in weed, the birds have not abandoned the village. This is because the stream has never frozen-up and must hold sufficient numbers of Sticklebacks, (their favourite prey) to make the feeding territory worthwhile. I wonder if it also means that there are more Little Egrets around, and therefore scarcer feeding territories to to move to - (better to stay put than fight?).

Driving out of the village this morning, I spotted this bird 'walking' in the field behind the Scout hut. I pulled-up the car, and then, hidden behind the road-side hedge, I watched it quarrying insects out of patches of horse dung - (isn't that what Cattle Egrets are supposed to do?). The bird walked past me surprisingly close, enabling some close quarter pictures.

What's interesting about this Egret is that it appears to have acquired its summer plume feathers on its chest and back already for spring 2011. The bird will presumably depart in spring to one of the Kent Heronries to breed far away from Shadoxhurst.

I have wondered for some weeks now, how I'd get close enough to the birds to get a decent picture, but it came to be that luck would once again give me a helping hand! So despite a very damp and murky day, our village Little Egret has provided an elegant ornithological highlight to end the year.

Raven - first Shadoxhurst record

In the garden today, luck and perhaps harsh winter weather at home and on the continent have together, enabled me to have seen three scarce birds - (indeed one very rare). First, a Merlin. Whilst looking down the garden after Breakfast, a small falcon, seemingly no bigger than a Blackbird zipped across the garden. At a distance of just 30 feet from the patio-window, its sharp -pointed wings and sleek profile brought back memories of the Swallows that patrolled the same area during the summer.

2nd scarce bird was a Little Egret, stood on a ditch edge, way in the distance from the garden, but still boldly white and prominent. I first saw this bird accompanied by another Little Egret on Sunday. Little Egrets have become a scarce but regular visitors to the Shadoxhurst area in winter.

So to the third and rarest sighting of the day, A Raven. After lunch I put more seed out for the Yellowhammers and Chaffinch flock that frequent the back of the garden. Walking back to the house, I noticed a single large and black crow or raptor, high in the sky flying south to North. Visually, I was looking at something no more than a blob, as I didn't have my binoculars to aid me. Its flight was lolloping but still purposefully heading north, similar to many raptors seen migrating through. For a milli-second, I wondered if it was a Buzzard but I managed to take just enough shots to convince myself that this was most definitely a Raven! Ravens bred near Dover for the first time in a century during the Summer. There is also a small group of birds that can be seen along the coast from Dunegeness to Fairlight, so there are just two small populations not known to wander, so an inland record at Shadoxhurst is very special indeed. My hunch is that this Raven is a migrant, displaced from the severe weather on the near-continent. It will be interesting to see if other Kent records appear this winter and beyond as Ravens are nationally increasing in number.

Dungeness Autumn bird migration

Flying in front of the Dungeness Lighthouse, migrating Goldfinches have been common this autumn

Present for a couple of weeks this Arctic Squa with distinctive missing primary feathers moved away before the weekend ended.

Fresh in off the sea a male Sparrowhawk

...and followed by a Merlin who started to chase the Goldfinches and then swung back out to sea again

And the Little Auk is still present from the weekend on Monday - perhaps it will survive! (See earlier post for full story!)