gnasher16 30,591 Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Sparrowhawks should be my enemy having an aviary but ive grown to respect them over time they,ve got some front and a risk taking attitude i admire that yet detest them at the same time.....bit like Millwall fans really 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gnipper 6,584 Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Horrible little shits caused me loads of grief with the aviary, killed 2 mules on me aswell. Flying stoats 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
leegreen 2,222 Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Time to bring back licences for wild spars imho They're thriving Didn't know there wasn't. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paulus 26 Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 Time to bring back licences for wild spars imho They're thriving Didn't know there wasn't.[/quo The daft thing is' back when they were as rare as hens teeth. You could apply to the deperartment of environment for a lisence to take a wild sparrowhawk. But you had to find a nest' ring the hatchling within a day or two of hatching and then collect it as a brancher or else. take when rung and risk imprinting it, as back then imprinting was not as well understod as it is today. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
peterhunter86 8,627 Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 I have twice seen sparrowhawks local chasing green ring-necked parakeets,never seen the culmination of the flight but would love to see a spar catch one. Iv seen spar catching a sparrow when I was a kid in my garden then when I was about nineteen I was walking home from work I seen one grab a pigeon it was cool to see 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest vin Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 I spent a full season flying a female Spar many many years ago... Was one of my most memorable adventures so far. Big stick and long walks over the hedgerows..moorhens,coots,woodies,maggies. . . A moorhen was its eventual downfall. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fireman 11,038 Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 I have twice seen sparrowhawks local chasing green ring-necked parakeets,never seen the culmination of the flight but would love to see a spar catch one. Iv seen spar catching a sparrow when I was a kid in my garden then when I was about nineteen I was walking home from work I seen one grab a pigeon it was cool to see Many years ago i was listening to a terrier in a dry pipe working her fox when i heard a very strange noise going on the other side of the hedge row,i look over to see what it was making it and i watched a spar harrassing a flock of starlings( it was the noise of their wings as the spar kept swooping at them) and it swooped down flipped upside down and grabbed a starling from under the flock.A grand sight to see for sure but i hate the things and i do what i have to do to protect my birds from vermin of any sort 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paulus 26 Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 I spent a full season flying a female Spar many many years ago... Was one of my most memorable adventures so far. Big stick and long walks over the hedgerows..moorhens,coots,woodies,maggies. . . A moorhen was its eventual downfall. they can do real damage if the get on their backs and get them claws raking down the chest. I use to nip in and cut their heads off with a knife until one day I took the middle toe of the spar off with the head. Lol bird never flinched lol. Made a good breeding bird despite its injury. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest vin Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 I spent a full season flying a female Spar many many years ago... Was one of my most memorable adventures so far. Big stick and long walks over the hedgerows..moorhens,coots,woodies,maggies. . . A moorhen was its eventual downfall. they can do real damage if the get on their backs and get them claws raking down the chest. I use to nip in and cut their heads off with a knife until one day I took the middle toe of the spar off with the head. Lol bird never flinched lol. Made a good breeding bird despite its injury. If only my little fiery warrior had gone down in such a glorious blaze of glory..i would have been a lot happier than watching it drown on a marsh before i could get over to it and try to rescue it....Gutted was an understatement. it last resting place was a stinky boggy reed bed. I was tempted last year to have another go with maybe a Goss.. But im having too much fun with the ferrets and dogs at moment. . . But its deffo on my list of To-dos. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paulus 26 Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 I spent a full season flying a female Spar many many years ago... Was one of my most memorable adventures so far. Big stick and long walks over the hedgerows..moorhens,coots,woodies,maggies. . . A moorhen was its eventual downfall. they can do real damage if the get on their backs and get them claws raking down the chest. I use to nip in and cut their heads off with a knife until one day I took the middle toe of the spar off with the head. Lol bird never flinched lol. Made a good breeding bird despite its injury. If only my little fiery warrior had gone down in such a glorious blaze of glory..i would have been a lot happier than watching it drown on a marsh before i could get over to it and try to rescue it....Gutted was an understatement. it last resting place was a stinky boggy reed bed. I was tempted last year to have another go with maybe a Goss.. But im having too much fun with the ferrets and dogs at moment. . . But its deffo on my list of To-dos. i spent 2 seasons trying to catch a snipe off the fist. first season with a musket flying at 5 1/8th then realized the only way it might happen is if the spar could out rise it, so swapped to a female as i had the notion the larger wingspan would giver her the advantage but sadly she was killed before i could manage it, always said one day i would try again, but..................... thinking back now the best times i had, were as a kid flying a mal imprinted spar at starlings on the school field, how the hell that little male survived so long and took so much is a mystery as i had little or no idea what i was doing Quote Link to post Share on other sites
*The*Field*Marshall* 674 Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 Came across these two this morning, reckon the Spa was chasing the sparrow rather than had already killed it sparrowhawk 2.JPG So now I know why they're called sparrow hawks. . Always seen them go after everything but! One left a starling in a ball of feathers last week, I seen the kill - impressive sight. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
*The*Field*Marshall* 674 Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 And not to forget there are kinds (that I know of) in the UK, the house sparrow (pictured) and hedge sparrow, or dunnock I think it's called ? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
peterhunter86 8,627 Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 Duunnock are also known as hedge sparrow an then there is the tree sparrow 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
paulus 26 Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 and jack sparrow Quote Link to post Share on other sites
brookie 1,193 Posted March 17, 2015 Report Share Posted March 17, 2015 i was watching a sparrow hawk last week perched up along side our local river and ambushing kingfishers as they flew down stream some spectacle to see the kingfisher skimming along the river midstream and just tilting away from the sparrow hawk and at same time the hawk skimming the water and just avoiding impact .he had four attempts at the kingfishers but missed every time and they dont miss very often at any other species whilst going up country lanes and skimmimg along hedge lines 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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