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At 10:00am yesterday, I was following orders by carrying out the
mundane chore of pegging washing (Sigh! I always thought I was destined for more
meaningful pursuits), I heard and saw Common Starlings, Magpie Larks, Pied
Currawongs and Common Blackbirds kicking up a hullabaloo. I stopped pegging,
scanned the sky and was rewarded by the sight of a Collared Sparrowhawk flying
by. It landed in a neighbour's tree for a minute then, a few moments later, flew
to another nearby tree before flying out of sight. I guess it was trying to
flush a bird to within grabbing distance.
At 3:00pm today, I was at the rear of the Kippax shops, adjacent to the
playing fields, when I was attracted to movement atop a winter-bare tree. I
fetched the binos from the ute and identified a Collared Sparrowhawk plucking
what I took to be a Red-rumped Parrot because there is often a small flock
feeding in the area. As I edged closer the hawk took wing and, after thirty
metres, dropped its victim. I watched for ten minutes in case it returned to
retrieve the fallen, although I'm led to believe it's unusual for an accipiter
to recover dropped prey. Then I went into the supermarket. More mundane duties.
I hate grocery shopping. Twenty minutes later I returned and saw the fallen
was still laying on the playing fields of Eaton ... I mean Holt, so I walked
over and it turned out to be an Eastern Rosella, an immature bird judging from
the dullish plumage. I imagine an Eastern Rosella would be approaching the
maximum prey size for a Collared Sparrowhawk. Incidentally, I reckon the
sparrowhawk was a female going by its size.
John Layton.
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