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Hi Everyone,
This beaut young raptor startled me when I heard a fuss and saw this thing flying at me with wings and legs flailing, as it changed direction mid-air and finally found a perch in a large sheoak. Location is at the end of River Street, Oaks Estate
ACT, along the Molongolo River.
At first I had no clue, but I am currently thinking a juvenile collared sparrowhawk. As you can see in the first picture it has taken a small passerine, perhaps a thornbill (streaky face and dark bar on tail). I don’t know whether it took this
mid-flight or from a perch. It was quite small and was nervous of a raven also in the tree. I had very limited views of it but the legs are rather long, has a long tail, the pattern on the neck was more streaky than spotted, and the legs are somewhat splayed
when perched. From memory the wings were level during flight.
Does anyone know how likely this is to remain in the area? I read in my Morcombe app that collared sparrowhawks frequently take small passerines, often mid-flight, and if this young bird is moving in I’d love to start observing it try to see that
spectacular event happen!
Thanks very much!
Steve Chivers
P.S. if the images are too small I can send one at a time.
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