As I looked out of the window to check the number of birds on my feeders all seemed quiet, it’s that bloody white cat again after an easy meal I thought to myself. After a quick check around the garden to see in which direction I needed to throw a brick it soon became apparent the cat was not the reason for the lack of activity on my feeders. Sat next to one of my bird feeders was the culprit a Sparrowhawk. I grabbed my camera and took some shots through the window just for a record.

At 1/80 sec not a good shot, but it’s a start.

Early on in the year a Sparrowhawk spent many hours just sat in the pear tree waiting for a meal to arrive, I tried on numerous occasions to get a good photograph of it with mixed results, as the light was either not good enough or in the wrong direction or it was taken through the window.

Since then some trees have been removed and others pruned which overlook the bottom of my garden to let in some more light, which should help improve any photographs. I did some pruning myself and the local Council did some; however my request to leave the Hawthorns fell on deaf ears.

The small woodland strip at the bottom of my garden which formed a natural wildlife corridor has been left in a sorry state with trees remove and a drastic reduction in the undergrowth. This has not affected the number of birds overall but it has affected the diversity.

 Hoping for a better photograph this time around I retreated to the garden shed and set up my camera behind a camouflage screen. This will be a long wait but I can amuse myself with some shots of the more frequent visitors.

However events soon transpired against me as the next door neighbour decided to do some work in his garden shed, which involved some banging and then it started to rain heavily. At 12.45 I decided it was time for a cup of tea and went back into the house. Returning a short time later I found a few birds nervously feeding and keeping an ever watchful eye out for their nemesis.

Grey Squirrels are an unwelcome guest in the garden, emptying the bird feeders on a regular basis

That’s the price you have to pay for putting up feeders in the first place.

By 2 o’clock our next door neighbour must have finished his work in the shed as the noise stopped, at the same time it stopped raining.

Things are looking up and I expect a lot more birds in the garden now, followed (I hope) with a visit from the Sparrowhawk.

By 4 o’clock the light was rubbish, it started raining and I called it a day.