On 28/12/2014 20:25, Christina Websell wrote:
"Malcolm" wrote in message
...

In article , Christina Websell
writes

Unfortunately, the sparrowhawk nested in my garden hatching 6 chicks so it
will be quite a while before I can feed the birds again.
Feeding the birds used to give me a lot of pleasure.

Then carry on doing so. Sparrowhawks deserve to feed, too, and each will
be satisfied by the equivalent of one starling per day. By having them
nest in your garden, they were taking up to 8 times that.during the
rearing period, so there's no logic in a different attitude during the
winter!

I don't care what you say, I'm not going to feed birds in my garden while I
have sparrowhawks here that will pick them off the birdtable.
I so wish they were not protected.

If you are willing to skew the prey/predator balance by feeding the
prey you can have no complaints when the predator takes some of the birds.

I wish I could attract a peregrine by feeding the pigeons.
--
Phil Cook