The Bird Thread

I agree. It’s a female Sparrowhawk. But it’s isn’t the yellow eye that tells me that as both Sparrowhawks and Peregrines have yellow around the eyes when adult.
Also I’d like to mention that Buzzards are actually quite effective predators. I’ve seen them take young Rabbits, Grass snakes, Voles and once even a singing Skylark, caught in flight.

a singing Skylark, caught in flight.

Suddenly brought to mind "O for the wings, for the wings of a dove" abruptly cut short mid-song - can't place it in my childhood memory, is it from a cartoon?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsuEio8VErc&ab_channel=madnessfan

Look at the google images of eyes for peregrine and sparrowhawk though it’s actually the little dart of pale colour above the eye that suggests to me it’s a sparrowhawk though I don’t get close enough to the ones I see regularly out of my window to be 100%.

There are many other differences to tell the two birds apart. The one thing you mentioned is something that is the same (or similar) on both. The pale supercilium (which is what I think you mean by little dart of pale colour) is one way of telling its a Sparrowhawk, as is the overall brown colour, Peregrines are dark grey and white with a pale face but a black cap and a black teardrop extending over the cheeks). The length of the tail and the barring on it, the warm tones of the breast and thigh feathers, (peregrines are very cold toned) and the fact that it’s eating the prey on the ground are also indicative. Sparrowhawk almost always eat like that, and can be approached quite close. Peregrines may kill their prey on the ground after striking it in flight but unless it is too big they’ll carry it off to a high perch to pluck and eat it. I’ve seen peregrines take Shelducks and eat them, but on salt marshes where they won’t get disturbed easily. Mostly they strike birds smaller than themselves and fly directly to a pylon or rooftop with it.

I have not seen any prey carried or hit by the resident pair but once we finally move in to our new place with a panoramic view i’m hoping to see a mid air kill as they sit on the transmitter tower ogling the pigeons flapping around the nature reserve below.

Not that. Like a bird has been plucked out of the air mid-song.

Did u Google Lens this?

I randomly did today and the Harpy was the first suggestion. Really backing up how limited AI is. I am still none the wiser as to what it is

I saw a Chough for the first time in my life, on Islay this week which was nice.

Ha, no, i just really like them and thought the colouring looked similar. But yeah, Google lens rarely brings me anything I'm looking for the few times I've used it.

Has anyone ever seen a Sparrow hawk or a Peregrine in London? A couple of weeks ago I saw a hawk duelling with two crows, close to Westbourne Park, on the Canal. After a few minutes, the hawk went and perched on top of a phone antenna. Unfortunately it was too far away to get a phone snap.
The chest and underwing markings made me immediately think it was a peregrine.

Just 5 posts above yours Mr Smyth is talking about waiting expectantly for death by raptor to some of London's pigeon population.

Lots of peregrines in London. I used to work in Hammersmith and there were a mating pair on top of Charing Cross Hospital with a livestream video camera in the nest. Would head out and see them most lunchtimes and the roulette of 'pigeon, pigeon, PARAKEET' in their mealtime was always quite fun.....

Pleased to hear I wasn't tripping! I hope they are nesting somewhere local, and I get to see them reducing our massive local pigeon problem!

there was a platform built next to battersea power station for the resident peregrines to nest while the buildings towers were being rebuilt, looks like they have a new home:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/peregrine-falcons-at-home-in-luxury-battersea-power-station-suite-605s20sz0

there are now Red kites and Buzzards venturing into London, further up this thread i witnessed a buzzard being mobbed by the peregrines in SE19.

Most recent mobbing was a gull by a load of crows around Bell Green.

I used to work above Angel tube station and we could watch the resident peregrine pair from the kitchen window, bringing food back to the nest.

There's loads of buzzards and kites in the downs just south of the London conurbation, so it's no surprise some of them are venturing in to find food. I've seen and heard owls locally too.

Not in Central London, but seen them near what was Croydon airport. Kestrels there too.

Lots of sparrowhawks too and they seem to hang around closer to people/ground more - feeding in suburban gardens, seen one hanging out in a not very tall tree in canning town (bow creek ecology park).

Forgot I took these pics in the summer of swifts or house martins in the soft eroding cliffs of Norfolk.

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Sand Martins maybe?

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/sand-martin/life-cycle/

Could be sand martins, but I find it hard to ID these guys when they’re not in the air

Definitely sand martins.

I saw a goosander on Saturday. I had no idea that's what it was and had to whip thr bird book out when I got home, but it was nice to see something I'm not sure I'd even heard of before.

@rhb @adroit @Eejit Ahh, thank you.