For the Love of B&W Photography

**eachan** · April 13th, 2022, 07:27 AM

The sparrow hawk who visits my garden from time to time, doubtless to snack on a wee bird, is very cool and fearless about having her photograph taken from about eight feet away. Do hawks understand the concept of glass and that while we are behind it we can do her no harm?

She watched us at the window, her head rotating through most of 360 degrees like an owl's, so that she could study us with one eye and then the other, making of us whatever it is that hawks make of humans: inedible and possibly dangerous.

I'm ambivalent about her (she has the female colouring). I love her grace and ferocity, the sleek body built for speed, the intelligent eye which sees much more than we poor creatures are capable of. She's an image of ferocity and yet she's no more fierce than a shopper in the supermarket. I'm highly privileged to see her so close but I wish I didn't make slaughter so easy for her by feeding the birds. I don't want to be Burger King for hawks. Photos are courtesy of Deb. I'm a crap photographer.

**Chrissy** · April 16th, 2022, 12:26 AM

Eachan the very morning after you posted Deb's photos on this thread I also had a visit from a sparrow hawk. It was really early in the morning and very sadly one of the male blackbirds was caught unawares so when we got up the local male 'sprawk' was having his breakfast under the shade of a conifer tree. I only had my iPhone and snapped a few shots that didn't come out very well. I've played with this one a bit so it's neither too dark nor too graphic but if you squint a bit you can just about tell it's a male sparrow hawk eating a meal.

You don't make slaughter any easier for a sprawk just because you attract birds to your garden. They don't have that great a hit rate anywhere and probably only catch something to eat every couple of days. By comparison UK cats kill 27 million birds in spring & summer. And I'm only quoting a Wiki fact there. I'm a cat lover myself.

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