Grisly cause of heatwave ‘snow’
It was one of the hottest days in history and what looked like a liberal sprinkling of snowflakes lay crisp and even on the parched ground.
Indeed, almost every step of my dawn dog walk was greeted with what seemed like a frosty footfall.
But close inspection delivered a surprise. Rather than an unseasonal blizzard, the flurries were hundreds of downy wood pigeon feathers caught on a soothing breeze. Over the years, I have heard many a story of single white plumes dropping unexpectedly from the heavens at gravesides to give comfort to the bereaved.
Nature has a wonderful way of reassuring grieving loved ones.
The reason for my high summer snow storm was far more prosaic – sparrowhawks were on the wing after the nesting season.
American birders have a perfect phrase for the aftermath of raptor kills.
So-called ‘feather puddles’ aptly describe the scenes left by marauding sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks when they pluck prey with frenzied abandon.
This side of the Atlantic, our sparrowhawk is an equally effective killer, using speed and guile on hunting sorties, as well as taking advantage of the nation’s love of feeding
Bird tables are settings for these effective killers to show skills
garden birds.
Bird tables with gatherings of starlings, house sparrows, robins and blackbirds make great settings for sparrowhawks to display their skills, first homing on a target and then pursuing it into dense vegetation.
Brutally sharp talons attached to knitting needle legs allow sparrowhawks to wheedle luckless victims from shrubby hideaways, then crush the life out of them – piles of feathers being the grisly leftovers.
With fledgling sparrowhawks becoming independent as summer advances, more of these accipiters are on the wing than any other time of the year.
My walk must have encountered a halfdozen kills in less than a mile.
Female sparrowhawks can weigh twice as much as males and are capable of taking wood pigeons and collared doves.
Although wood pigeon numbers have increased dramatically over the last two decades, sparrowhawks declined by 19% between 2008 and 2018.
Perhaps a dearth of smaller garden birds for males to catch is having an impact on breeding success.