Sparrow hawk (Not for sqeamish)

[John Robinson]

Sparrow hawk (Male)

Whilst working a colony of sand martins from a hide, this Sparrow hawk would come severasl times a day and either pluck a young one at the tunnel entrance or pick dead ones off the floor. It was amazing to wath. He would come along the cliff face(sand quarry) the suddenly turn 90 dggrees and shoot a leg out to grab anything available. The chick in the picture is one he took off the floor. Not too nice to sit and watch from a hide - but nature and all that.
The pale area at the bottom is a puddle of rain water

Nikon D200
Sigma 50-500mm
640 ISO
200th sec @f8
Nearly full frame
ev down 1
PP in paint shop pro- levels
Thanks for comments on last pic. Been absent a while with pc probs.
Cheers
John

[Bret Goddard]

Beautiful John, that must have been a thrill to watch. Wonderful exposure, the feathers in the beak adds to the whole. Grand indeed.

[John Robinson]

Thanks Bret
I don't think the chick was too pleasd !- but it wasn't alive when the hawk picked it up so thats not so bad. When they fall outthe holes you cany#t really putthem bak as you don't know which hole it was !!
Cheers
John

[Andy Shepherd]

An excellent piece of photography, John. I'm liking the perch too and the feathers blowing in the breeze really add to the scene.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi John, you have captured a good HA, and you have also exposed the black feathers nicely too. Just enough perch to being not over powering, and the wind swept feathers flying around the BG add interest. Not too gory at all.

[Karl Egressy]

Great action image, well done, John. The pose is great and the flying feathers tell the story.

[John Robinson]

Thanks all.
Seems like folks are not too keen on the raw wildlife stuff considering the number of views.
Cheers
John

[Satish Ranadive]

Excellent image. Very nice action captured. Love the pose with nice HA, beautiful colors, flying feathers in BG and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[Iain Barker]

Great Photo John,

I don't find it too gory. Nice sharp eye really stands out.

Iain