A Starlings grisly end

Spent a few hours at Dungeness looking for the Dotterel from yesterday but could not find it, so returned home as I had a number of jobs to do around the house. Also, being the big garden bird watch wanted to spend an hour doing the bird count.

Whilst doing this a Sparrowhawk flew in and grabbed a Starling near the feeders and pinned it to the ground. I spent the next 20 minutes watching the Sparrowhawk first shield the bird with its wings and then start to rip the feathers off and enjoy its meal, a grisly and sad end for any bird but that's nature.

Also noticed whilst in the garden the first Snowdrops starting to appear, so hopefully spring is not far away and we can start enjoying those warm days again.

Sparrowhawk on the prowl

On Saturday whilst in my garden bird hide (shed) I was watching the birds on the feeders. Plenty of Blue Tits with 9 on the feeders at one time, and the other usual garden birds. The Coal tits have disappeared which is a shame as I enjoyed watching them. About an hour into watching these birds they all flew away from the feeders a Sparrowhawk came hurtling in past my shed and through the bushes chasing the frightened birds, he then landed on a tree for a few seconds before flying off empty handed.