Spending a quiet Saturday afternoon watching some football on TV and reading emails – multi-tasking whoohoo – I suddenly had a feeling of being watched!
Creepy.
I looked up from the computer, through a glass door and between me and the view was – – –
Grabbing the camera, I started snapping, staying away from the glass. The visitor was aware something was happening but wasn’t alarmed.
He decided to check out the menu. We suffer from a plague of feral pigeons so there is plenty in the pantry.
Looking at the balconies above and below.
Then he had a final check to see if I may have been edible.
And off he flew. No, that bit was too fast for me to catch.
So. Who was he?
At first glance I had assumed it was a juvenile Australian Hobby from the family which I have seen chasing dinner over the past few months. Then I spotted the nice yellow eye and thought it may be a Collared Sparrowhawk which I last had close contact with while I was in the desert. There were the scruffy feathers around the top of the legs but there was no collar!
Close study of my reference books finally gave me the truth. A juvenile male collared Sparrowhawk. Those bars below the chest give its age and the age precludes a collar.
Ærchies Archive - Digital Detritus 
I do love the raptors. So fun to see one from another conitnent. He reminds me a lot of the Cooper’s hawks we have here, who use my bird feeder as a source of sparrows, finches and starlings. Except the Cooper’s is much more grey. Probably because the colors of bark in our area is more grey, thus allowing for a natural selection that goes towards grey rather than brown.
Such a cool visitor.
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