Simon Barnes Author and Journalist

Sports and Wild Blog

Simon Barnes
  • Home
  • Biog
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Pictures
  • Contact
  • Twitter

How to get rid of a hawk

26 June 2015 by Simon Barnes 4 Comments

Tuesday June 23

 

Ah these dramas. They get me ever time. Any little bird worth its salt will take on a bird of prey. It looks like a suicide mission: it’s actually a diamond-hard survival technique. I was doing some outside chore when I hear the two-note call of swallow. In easy times this is a cheery honey-I’m-home greeting as the bird enters the stable and makes a steep upward curve to its nest among the roof-ties. Not this time: the same notes, but the tone was urgent, and much repeated. This wasn’t a greeting; it was a call to arms.

I looked up at once, for the call is also a summons to human birdwatchers, and there was a hefty female sparrowhawk; females in most birds of prey are about a third bigger than males. And it was being harassed by the swallows from my stable-block: zooming in at the bird like jet-fighters attacking a bomber.

This was doubly irritating for the sparrowhawk. It meant that a hunt had been interrupted, and that it was impossible to resume. There was no chance of taking anything by surprise with all that racket going on. Every small bird knows what these alarm and mobbing calls mean. I’ve got your number! On yer bike, hawk! And don’t come back!

And so the four of them made repeated attacks on the lethal giant that was flying over, trusting in their speed and maneuverability to keep out of trouble. The sparrowhawk made half-hearted efforts to turn in and down towards the swallows’ building, but the swallows had all the commitment. So she’s gone. For now.

30 days wild 1623

Share this:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Posted in Wildblog

Comments

  1. Pat Leighton says

    26 June 2015 at 12:01 pm

    Thanks for these wild posts. It’s great to be reminded of these wild moments. We get them here too, with several pairs of swallows nesting in outbuidlings.

    Reply
  2. Gary steer says

    26 June 2015 at 2:12 pm

    Its in situations like these that our “regular” smallbirds must be very thankful for the Swallows presence !
    I’m lucky to live in a village with an abundance of House Martins,Swallows and Swifts at this tiem of year,they’re certainly distracting

    Reply
  3. Glenda White says

    26 June 2015 at 10:46 pm

    I am dreading the return of the sparrowhawks. One flew over the other day and the silence was ominous.

    Reply
  4. Michael John Clark says

    28 June 2015 at 12:43 pm

    Regularly take prey from our small garden but thankfully it is mainly from the urban pigeon population which has been mainly of our making anyway(the human race that is.)

    Reply

Please leave a comment Cancel reply

Receive Blog Updates By Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to my blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 6,287 other subscribers.

Recent Comments

  • Michael John Clark on Midsummer – it must be time for a swift drink
  • Sue on On the whole, stoats are better than work
  • Michael John Clark on On the whole, stoats are better than work
  • Elaine Slee on On the whole, stoats are better than work
  • Keith Owens on Midsummer – it must be time for a swift drink

Categories

  • Myblog (7)
  • Sportsblog (7)
  • Wildblog (217)

Archives

  • June 2022
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • May 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014

© Simon Barnes · info@simonbarnesauthor.co.uk
Home page photograph © David Bebber · Bird drawings © foxillustration.com
Created by Purple Hippo