Sparrowhawk - Orange eyes (1 Viewer)

[Coltech]

Sparrowhawk - Orange eyes.???

I took this picture back in the summer in my back garden. It looks like a sparrowhawk but has orange eyes. Any thoughts on this? I believe it was a young bird as it didn't seem to know what to do with it's catch. The poor sparrow was still alive when it eventually got fed up with my incessant clicking an flew off.

 

[pe'rigin]

Looks like an adult male to me, showing signs of breeding wear. But all the colourisation is correct.

Strange that it let the Sparrow go.

Perhaps you were just too close for successfully finishing off the bird.

 

[Coltech]

It flew off with the sparrow. I was sitting in a hide at the time. Had no idea it was there til it popped out ot the bushes. I have an adult female that visits a couple of times a week. She has the usual yellow eyes.

 

[bitterntwisted]

It flew off with the sparrow. I was sitting in a hide at the time. Had no idea it was there til it popped out ot the bushes. I have an adult female that visits a couple of times a week. She has the usual yellow eyes.

Great views and picture, Coltech. It's an adult male Sparrowhawk - On the eye colour see this from a thread last week:

...eye colour in Sparrowhawks can vary with age from brownish yellow (juveniles), through yellow to orange in adult females, and even to orange-red in adult males.

Graham

 

[Coltech]

Thanks for that.
I was hoping the eye colour was unusual. Guess it's more common than I thought.

 

[mike from ebbw]

welome to BF coltech.thats a cracking pic.get yourself a gallery set up on here.mike.

 

[Coltech]

Thanks, I plan on putting some photos into the gallery. Just a question of finding the time.

 

[JRE]

Rare shot of a Sprawk in the open, not many of those. How close did you get to the bird?

 

[Coltech]

I was using a portable hide. I guess about 3 to 4 metres from the subject. Taken with Nikon D50 & Nikkor 55-200mm DX lens. I was actually set up to take pictures of the usual gang that come to the garden. The pic was shot through the side window. This is why I love taking pics of birds, you never know what will happen, even in your own garden. I've since bought a Tamron 200 - 500mm zoom, had I been using it on the day I wouldn't have got the shot. Would've been a bit too noticable.