Monday 24 January 2011

STOP PRESS

a friend, who is knowledgeable about birds, says she is pretty sure that the hawk is not a sparrow hawk but a kestrel and because of its decrepit state she guesses that it may well have died of starvation and been frozen under the snow for some time. The same lady saw another barn owl yesterday - so we know that some have survived this awful winter. I read in the paper the other week that the ones who have most likely died are the young ones, who will not have developed the necessary skills to survive in harsh weather.

9 comments:

Heather said...

Is it the sparrowhawk that is slatey grey and the kestrel that is more tawny - or the other way around? I look it up so many times and can never remember. If I had a brain I could have become someone quite important!!

MorningAJ said...

It's a shame that anything has starved to death this winter but I guess that's nature's way.

ArtPropelled said...

We've had days of rain here and its always a worry that the swallows will starve to death since there are no insects flying about in the rain. Its very unsettling to think of birds dying due to the bad weather.

Gwil W said...

We had 5 inches of snow last night so the crows are on the cadge, two just now on the window ledge looking in to see what's for lunch.

Arija said...

It may be a bird of prey but I pity anyone dying of starvation.

Jo said...

I am in awe of anyone who can tell such things. Many of us have lost the connection with our fellow creatures in the sky and woods.

Brava to you, Weaver's ornithological friend!

angryparsnip said...

That quite breaks my heart.
I know it is nature but...

cheers, parsnip

Crafty Green Poet said...

yes on looking again I'd say kestrel, its hard to tell when its dead and all you have is a photo. The colour certainly seems very bright for a sparrowhawk, but birds of prey can b e variable...

Dave King said...

As always our cup runneth over when you fill it. Fabulous. My thanks for your corner of sanity.