"Mike" wrote in message
...

snip

But I keep on feeding the birds, in
the hope that that does more good than harm - because the
sparrowhawk
will prey somewhere anyway.
--
Klara, Gatwick basin

May I just say that I have not seen the Sparrowhawk take anything
over or
from our garden. I think that this 'may' be because as I understand
it, the
Sparrowhawk wants a 'clear run' in and out, and we have hedges/high
shrubs
both sides with the house at one end and a 'specimen Leylanddi' at
the other
end, so no clear run in and out is available.

I might add that we 'think' that the Leylandii is used for nesting
and I
believe that a Mistle Thrush was checking it out today :-))

Oooh, careful Mike. That statement about Leylandii being used for
nesting might raise a few feathers.
The implication is that it is not trimmed.
A well trimmed Leylandi would be too dense for most nesting birds.
While it amuses me to see sparrows and finches fly straight at
hawthorn and blackthorn hedging and be seemingly swallowed up by the
open foliage.

And our sparrow hawks adopt a very swooping approach. I think they
must 'case' the garden activity from afar and then make their approach
using all the available cover, swooping around the end of the house
and a tall tree before dipping into the garden. And if they draw a
blank, they are not averse to stopping on a fence rail or hopping
through some sparse shrubs before taking their leave.

--
ned

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last update 27.11.2005