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.
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