Harris Hawk ????

Hello there Peeps, I'm still here

While I was driving home last night, a bird flew right across my windscreen & swooped onto something on the grass over the road, then took off , Whooooosh gone .
I've googled hawks to see if I could recognise it & the only thing that comes close is a Harris Hawk, yet the accompanying info says they are American birds .

It was good to see it in action though . & this took place in a residential part of the town ????

It's more likely to be a Buzzard. Around here their chest/belly colour varies from all brown through to almost pure white so you have to go by shape and size

I believe you do get harris hawks in this country. Never seen one myself. They are devils to tell apart, especially when all you usually get is a fleeting glance.

Harris hawks are popular as training birds for learner falconers i believe and not all of them come back so there are probably a few wild ones about now

Buzzards are probably the most common, If you were lucky it may have been a kite though.

Harris Hawks are living wild in Dorset and many other areas according to a colleague of mine. He's an avid twitcher and apparently a bird watcher as well.

Wheres gord when you need him... he used to work for the RSPB.

This bird was slightly bigger than a pigeon . There is a pair of buzzards nesting near our caravan site & they are quite alot bigger than the bird I saw.

Yep, where's Gordon when you need an expert

Reckon what you got there was a Sparrowhawk definately not a Harris hawk. I,ve seen them drop into residential gardens. Kites are big birds that basically eat carrion I believe, as are Buzzards. Gosshawk very fast woodland hunters, very unlikely to be seen in urban areas.
Kestrels a very low probability due to the urban environment.
I believe the falcons take the majority of their prey on the wing and the peregrine, though now found nesting in big cities would be a most unlikely candidate. the Gyre far too rare.

We have a kestral that regularly takes pigeons , in ours & our neighbours back garden . There's always bloody feathers everywhere.
We've even walked into the garden during an attack & its still carried on !
Times & situations must be changing .

There are peregrine all along the south coast now and i'd say it would more likely be this than a harris hawk as there habitat is more farmland,where as the peregrine loves cliff faces.

A friend of mine has started keeping Harris hawks (supposedly they are the best ones for novice falconers), talking to him the other day he said that there are loads that disappear and go 'native'. He had a wild one in his garden and no one in the local Hawk groups had reported one missing...

They use them to keep places as different as Wembley Stadium and our local tip, clear from pigeons and seagulls.

I reckon it was probably a Harris hawk.

http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&source=hp&q=lost+harris+hawk+&btnG=Google+Search&rlz=1R2GFRC_enGB327&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=lost+harris+hawk+&gs_rfai=&fp=bafddf1410a9ef78

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/forums/general-wildlife/23746-harris-hawks.html

There you have it! I was going to say I doubted that it was a peregrine. The speed they go at I doubt you would be able to see more than a blur!

Can't believe what a bunch of twitchers we have on here

hen sparrow hawks are a powerfull preditor and will hit pigeons for fun, either in flight or on the deck. buzzards are much bigger, they take small live prey, but feed more on carrion. watching a perigrine shut its wings at altitude and "stoop" on its prey, is very fast and awsome, the female is much bigger than the male. whatever you saw, dont be too suprised at what it could be and dont rule out harris hawk, -- there was one seen and identifie close to where i,m sitting now within the last couple of weeks. and last year i sat watching a pair of honey buzzards being mobbed by jackdaws, low and less than 100yds away. p.s bet everybody twitches a bit when theres a weaver about.

Next time shoot the darn thing then we can all have a good look.....