This time
of the year a lot of Sparrowhawks are on the move. Some of them visit feeding
stations for other birds to prey on passerines. Until now I have not been very
lucky with this little hawk, and you might say I was quit interested when my friend
Jostein Hellevik in Dalen, Telemark called a couple of days ago. He was telling
about at least two Sparrowhawks chasing Eurasian Jays at his feeders.
The forecast
was pretty much crap, with loads of rain. Still I decided to go and trust my
D3s to do the job, using high ISO and whatever light was available.
I came up
this morning and had a blast with 12-15 Jays going crazy in front of the hide,
but the hawk was not seen. According to Jostein they were visiting the site
from early morning until mid day, but today was different. Perhaps the heavy
rain was a factor. I sure was happy to be sitting in a nice comfortable
Doghouse blind.
Suddenly everything
was chaos in front of my lens, and there he was. A small bird of prey, with
razor sharp claws. From then on my camera was getting warm. The Sparrowhawk
stayed for 3 hours chasing the Jays back and forth. I must admit I struggled to
get any action today. But by using from 1250 to 5000 ISO I was rather happy
with the results. I focused on capturing the mood, and the rain sure added to
the scene.
The hawks might stay for a while, but nothing is sure. They might get a good wind one day and go south, so if you like to get your chance with the Sparrowhawk I suggest you call Jostein and book a day or two. Phone: 0047 900 65 976
