sacha wrote:

I've put this in the bird group, too. We've just seen a bird perched
on the back of one of the garden chairs, just a few feet from the
window. It had a hawk like beak and a dark body which, at rest,
appeared to have white spots over its back. The chest had a pale
creamy patch and had a red tinge in the middle of it. The eyes were
dark. As it flew away, the tail was something between a fan and a
fork and barred. We would say it was about the size of a wood pigeon
and slightly dishevelled looking. We've never seen it here before or,
perhaps, we've never seen whatever-it-is so close up.

Initially I thought Sparrowhawk but the eye is yellow.

Merlin?
http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/ga...ry_merlin2.jpg

--
Chris