Tuesday 7 April 2009

I know it's nature BUT

One of my favourite birds is the Sparrow - I love watching them bathe in the soil that I have just turned over in the garden - watching them chase each other and then feed from the bird feeder on the apple tree. My neighbour, William, has all sorts of goodies in his garden to attract them plus a variety of nesting boxes which they do use. However, over the last few years we have sadly noticed their demise as less and less sparrows visit and nest in our gardens.


a pair of china sparrows Nigel & I received as a wedding present 28 years ago.

I know one of the reasons why and it's because we must have nesting sparrowhawks in the area - last year they visited my garden a few times to capture sparrows and this morning my theory was proved right when I heard twittering in the garden and rush to the patio door only to see a sparrowhawk swoop down into the hedges and swoop out with a little sparrow in its clutches (the sparrow was still alive) then the sparrowhawk landed on the path in my garden with the intention of killing its prey. I thought (foolishly) if I banged on the window it would drop the sparrow and fly off but no it just flew off with the sparrow and the sparrows family and friends twittering in the background.

Sparrowhawk - picture taken from the internet.

Now I know that it's all part of nature BUT it still churned my stomach to witness the catch.

10 comments:

Janet said...

Oh I hate that!! We have been lucky at home as we have managed to attract a lot of birds. Someone gave me the good idea of putting peanut butter on an old pine cone and hanging it in a tree. The birds LOVE it! Philip also makes a concoction of water, sugar and red food colouring which he puts in a bottle with a special spout - the little yellow weavers LOVE to drink from that!

Buskitten said...

I get really upset when our cats get birds - fortunately, it doesn't happen that often - but it's horrible. I can't believe how Karmen's grown! She was so so tiny, then sudenly - she's all grown up! I was trying to find Kaemen's Tales, then I read down and saw you were finding it too much with your other blogs.....I like your Chaplain one very much. As long as we still get pics of Karmen, that's OK! She is such a sweet little puss!

Deb said...

I love sparrows they are so cute

Judi said...

Judith
Oh dear how sad it is to watch the sparrows taken like that. I know I would want to pound on the window too. *sigh*. But I guess that’s how nature does it and we aren’t supposed to interfere. I wonder whether there are less sparrows for some other reason also or whether these big birds have a lack of other food that’s bringing the sparrow population down.
Your china sparrows are darling. What a beautiful gift and lovely memory.
It was so nice to have you visit. Come back again.
Have a lovely day
Judi

Lucy Mills said...

We hardly ever get any sparrows in our garden, which is shame...I want some chattering sparrows to hang out at our place!!

quiltcat said...

Hi Judith. I find the birds of prey awe-inspiring and beautiful, but i really hate to see it when they do what they're designed to do. I have a birdfeeder which attracts a lot of birds, and in the wintertime when it's hard for the hawks to find anything else to eat, they'll sometimes come by and pluck one of my little birds right off the feeder. Yes, it is Nature's way, with different parts of the food chain feeding on each other...but it's still hard to see.

Anonymous said...

Good afternoon Mrs Teapot, Oh no...We have the same problem here. Your bird looks a lot like the one that's been stalking the birds by our house. He makes me a wreck. I worry about my Charli when he's around. I hope you will partisipate in 'Tea and friendship Thursdays's' I bet you will have a lot of wonderful stories you could share with us. I hope you and your family have a very blessed and joyful Easter ♥

Ali said...

'the sparrow and the sparrows family and friends twittering in the background.'

wow, clever birds using twitter. I can't even do that ...

Judith said...

Hi Ali - I realized after I'd posted my post that I should have put chattering in the background rather than twittering!! LOL

Stevie said...

It is a way of survival. From the sparrow side it is death. From the hawk side it is life. Food to either eat or feed its young.
It would be hard to just watch and not try to help the little sparrow.
We have a few bird feeders and also a few hummingbird feeders. I love to watch them.