Female Sparrowhawk

Aw poor wee thing..glad its ok! :)

Thank goodness for that Nariz, she is a real beauty.

Wonder what she was chasing? I was blaming the redtail hawks that we have here for taking my little squirrels and chipmunks..but saw a neighbour's cat today...hunting in my garden. When I came out the door with a purposeful aire, the cat decided to scram. I love cats but lately I've enjoyed the company and antics of the little rodents...so kitty can hunt somewhere else.
The small hawks are beautiful creatures but just check out those lovely yellow legs with the talons so sharp. My cousin had a large hawk fly into the glass around her verandah...it wasn't as lucky as your kestrel...it was very dead. They drop from above at such speed ...it was after one of my cousin's cats.

That was a lovely bird, Nariz! Glad it recovered after a few hours. :-)) Must have been a most terrible shock for the bird to hit something solid but invisible in mid-flight!

glad she's okay lovely bird

think you got yourself a sparrow hawk there Nariz, had the exact same thing when a sparrow hawk whumped into out front porch chasing smaller birds, it recovered & I got some good photos & movie before I released it.

It was quite a bit smaller than a sparrow hawk, Bampy, and was identified in our book and on line as a Lesser Kestrel. Glad you were able to get decent photos of 'your' bird. Wonderful to see such a beautiful creature so close and know it's not captive!

Glad your visitor made a full recovery Nariz. Have to agree with Bampy, this is most definitely a Sparrowhawk. A quick, reliable ID tip when you get a good close view such as this, is the eye colour - dark on Lesser Kestrel/Kestrel and yellow or orange on Sparrowhawk.

Thanks for the positive ID Muddy. I didn't think to check eye colour.

My garden may be in town but these birds do a smash and grab act every so often, directed at the bird feeders in the Hawthorn tree. They are horizontal attackers so occasionally miss the target and crash into things......glad it recovered though.

hi Nariz, agree with Mw and Bampy, i just asked B who's 'one of those birders' and he says it is a sparrowhawk, no chestnut and lesser kestrels dont have the eyestripe this one has. The male sparrowhawk is about 25% smaller than the female.

I meant to 'edit' some months ago - thanks Resi, you reminded me. :o)

Sure looks like the sparrowhawk we get in our garden from time to time. It swoops in to catch the little birds but hasn't crashed yet!!
I don't like to see them catch the little ones, but that's the nature of things ain't it!!? Glad he/she doesn't come very often!!