Mark Darlaston

As Goshawks are still persecuted despite full legal protection, it is regrettable that Devon Birds cannot advertise sites to watch them. However, there are places where Goshawk can be seen and we have provided some pointers about where to see them and how to identify them.

A stunning picture of a pair of 'talon locked' buzzards, was taken by Tom Wallis in August 2009. With only seconds to spare, Tom managed to grab 8 pictures of the pair as they fell from the sky. His reward was a well deserved first prize in a recent photo competition run by the Dartmoor Preservation Society.

26 February 2009

Following on from the Goshawk/Sparrowhawk identification article ‘That tricky accipter’ by Mark Darlaston in the April 2008 issue of Devon Birds journal, Mark has taken a couple more great photographs that might be useful for identification purposes. Here, two separate images have been merged to provide a side-by-side comparison of the two species.

26 February 2009

This superb shot of a male Sparrowhawk with its Great Tit kill was taken by Robin Khan at Chudleigh Knighton on 19 January.

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Male Sparrowhawk which has just caught a Great Tit.

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"This bird has moved into a clearing beside a walkway at the local Stover country park. Unlike most buzzards this one does not seem to be phased by the 200 people on the walkway, during the 3 hours I was watching it at a distance of no more than 20m, including shouting kids barking dogs etc. Taking no notice of the squirrels or pigeons just below a feeder it seems to be on the lookout for frogs which are becoming more plentiful". - John Lee