Brigg Blog was just about to log off for the morning when a chance glance through the back window revealed what we think was a kestrel in the back garden.
A few years ago we had a visit from a solitary sparrow hawk, but this is the first time we've spied a kestrel in the St Helen's estate part of Brigg.
Not surprisingly with a kestrel in the area, there's not a sparrow, starling or blackbird to be seen in the back garden. And that's unusual.
We have regular visits from a sparrow hawk in Brigg . The first time I put out a shallow bowl of water under a willow tree to provide the garden birds with unfrozen water during the cold spell 2 years ago . The said hawk simply perched on a branch above the bowl and ambushed each bird as it came to drink. The whole scene was rather brutal but I didn't intervene because it was all part of the natural cycle . Predators play their part in keeping a balance of numbers of non predatory birds .
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely right, Gary. Pigeons continue to be a problem in Brigg. Some of them are particularly plump. Does this make them too big for sparrow hawks to attack?
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