Sunday 17 April 2011

Nature red in tooth and claw

I was sitting in the back garden yesterday evening, chatting to my neighbour, when a flurry of wings made us look up.
Just a few feet above Pam's head, a sparrowhawk dived at a white dove, narrowly missing it - and then chasing it across the gardens towards Heol-y-dwr. At one point, it was within inches of the dove's tail, before it decided to give up the chase and flew instead to the vantage point of the chimneys above one of the Heol-y-dwr houses.
A few days ago, it was luckier - we found a spread of white feathers across the lawn, and Pam saw the sparrowhawk dragging the body to a safer place to eat it.
Considering that we're close to the middle of Hay, I think it's quite exciting to see a sparrowhawk going about its business with a total disregard for the presence of humans.

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