Killer in my Garden by kaward
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
My wife called " there's a big bird eating the food you put in the middle of the lawn" I said "I haven't put any food on the lawn". So when I looked it was all the feathers that my wife thought was food. The big bird was this Sparrowhawk eating a house sparrow. I gabbed my camera quickly and shot away until he had eaten his prey and departed. He left a large area of feathers as evidence of the deed. I have many bird feeders around the garden, so have seen Sparrowhawks many times, male and female. I have seen the circle of feathers before from many birds, but not seen them in the act.
It is just feeding another bird to me though. Nothing but nature surviving in an urban environment, and a great photo opportunity of course.
It was very dull so shot at 800 asa and still only getting around 1/80 sec. Lens ( 400mm) wide open too and shot through double glazing. Me leaning on the window board resting on my elbows, not idea for jumpy birds. Some shots its head was just a blur as it looked around. So I'm glad I fired plenty and it stayed still enough for it to be recognisable on some shots!
Comments (20)
Wow very nice close up shot of this hawk.
There's still a lot of detail despite the high ISO and shooting through glass, good capture, I had one of these take a sparrow on the wing just a few yards in front of me in my garden, I didn't have a camera with me at the time but even if I had it was all over in a few seconds !
Excellent shot!
Wow. How lucky are you to have one of those in your garden (and to be ready with your camera. Well done.
There's been a murder! What a great result, Kevin! I see them all the time but NO chance of a pic with my Tizzy!
Great shot. What an eye the bird has.
A great capture Kevin and this looks like a female.
Well captured considering the conditions! I've seen the feather remains in my garden too, but haven't yet seen the predator. We have lots of red-tailed hawks and bald eagles around here, so it could be almost anything. I'll keep hoping to spot one!
Excellent Kev! And I am so pleased to see someone using the correct term of "Window board". So many say window sill they don't realize the sill is on the outside of the window. Anyway, good thing this was a meal he had, at first I thought it was self harming LOL!
Excellent capture.
Superb capture my friend. God bless.
great opportunity, well taken
that must have been shocking
Always a shock,however as you say its nature in the raw, good capture and info.
Amazing details in eye here... great photo!
Fantastic capture! :)
Diner or snack? Great!
Fantastic capture !!!
Good work on a natural event!
Very good shot !! If you like photos some of mine are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/107293413@N04/sets/