A Hawk’s Eye

This time a hawk in the more expected sense.

In the garden enjoying some Sunday morning sunshine.  I had my camera with me and was trying to get some ID-able shots of the various bees busy among the profusion of blooms produced by the geraniums that dominate the ground cover.  I missed a shot of a Wool Carder Bee (Anthidium manicatum), but at least this very distinctive bee is easy enough to recognise.  I spent a few minutes trying to photograph a very small bee which I think may have been a Bronze Furrow Bee (Halictus tumulorum).  The finer points of bee recognition I am still getting to grips with.  They are a very tricky group!

Wool Carder Bee (Anthidium manicatum)- note the yellow markings on the edge of the abdomen. Ross Gardner 2010.

Then standing up from my entomological stoop I became aware of another with me in the garden.  And there, perched on the edge of the house roof – a male Sparrowhawk.  Its keen eyes were scanning the surrounding gardens, but I expect he had also been watching me for a time before I noticed him.  He was quite unperturbed by my attention, not to mention the flash from the camera.  I have never seen a Sparrowhawk as bold as this one.  At his leisure he eventually flew from his perch to incur the wrath of some mobbing Starling and then he was away.

Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus). Ross Gardner2016.