Mastodawn

Varpushaukka – Sparrowhawk

#varpushaukka #sparrowhawk #accipiternisus #sparvhök
#birds #linnut #bird #lintu #wildbirds #nuts_about_birds #birdlife #birdlifesuomi #suomen_linnut #suomenlinnut #lintukuvaus #birdphotography #bird_brilliance #birdlove #birdphotographyworld #luonto #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #nuts_about_wildlife #wildlife_photography #nuts_about_nature #WildlifePhotography #luontokuva #luontokuvat #luontokuvaus #suomenluonnonvalokuvaajat #naturephotography #finnishnature #wildlifefinland

Peter Put Feb 13

🦅Sperwer - Sparrowhawk - Accipiter nisus. Male has typical orange-brown colour, female has white colour instead. Saw this one while cycling home😃
#sperwer #sparrowhawk #accipiternisus #alttext added

Maikel de Bakker Jan 10

The garden falls silent.

A few weeks ago, a Sparrowhawk turned our garden upside down in a storm of panic and wings. Yesterday, he returned. This time, there was no chaos — only anticipation. Every bird seemed to know what was coming. Long before I noticed him, the garden emptied itself. Not in panic, but with experience.

Only two House Sparrows (Passer domesticus — Huismus — House Sparrow) made a mistake. They chose low cover beneath the bird feeder house. When the Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus — Sperwer — Eurasian Sparrowhawk) landed on top of it, right above them, they froze. Perfectly still. Camouflage doing what evolution designed it to do.

The garden was silent. Too silent.

The sparrowhawk scanned the area, clearly disappointed. Then the two sparrows shifted… and briefly quarrelled. A fatal error. In a flash of muscle and feathers, the hawk launched himself downward. The sparrows reacted instantly — nimble, desperate, alive. They fled with the hawk right on their tail, vanishing beyond the garden.

I don’t know how it ended. That’s nature.

Predators like the Sparrowhawk don’t hunt for sport. They take what they need, removing weakness and maintaining balance. Without them, ecosystems collapse quietly and invisibly. Watching this unfold from my lunch table was a reminder that even the smallest garden is part of a much larger system.

Photographed handheld with my Canon 5D Mark IV and Sigma 100–400mm at f/6.3, 1/250 sec, ISO 3200 — overcast, calm, and deceptively peaceful.

Nature rarely announces itself loudly. Sometimes, it simply holds its breath.

#AccipiterNisus #Sperwer #EurasianSparrowhawk
#PasserDomesticus #Huismus #HouseSparrow
#BirdPhotography #GardenWildlife #UrbanNature
#NatureObservation #EcologicalBalance #Predation
#WildlifeBehavior #BirdsInTheGarden #NatureStory
#HandheldPhotography #Canon5DMarkIV #Sigma100400
#WinterWildlife #OvercastDays #NaturalSelection
#FoodChain #Ecosystem #BackyardNature
#PixelfedPhotography #WildlifeMoments

Maikel de Bakker Dec 23

Early this morning, before sunrise, our garden briefly turned into chaos. House sparrows vanished into the firethorn (Pyracantha), blue tits and great tits scattered in all directions, pigeons took off, magpies protested loudly. Even the blackbirds dove for cover. Something was clearly wrong.

Then I saw it — a fast, agile silhouette cutting through the air, turning sharply mid-flight. A predator. Moments later it landed on the fence, right in front of us. A Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus).

A Sparrowhawk on the fence

This small raptor is built for surprise and speed. Short wings, long tail, and razor-sharp focus — evolution’s answer to hunting in cluttered spaces like gardens and hedgerows. The firethorn, dense and armed with thorns, offered the sparrows temporary safety, much to the visible frustration of the hawk.

It was still very dark. No sunrise yet, only moody pre-dawn light. Technically, this was a challenge. I didn’t want motion blur from a slow shutter, but pushing ISO too far would destroy the fine feather detail. I settled on 1/250s (the slowest I trust handheld), f/6.3, ISO 3200, fully zoomed to 400mm on the Sigma, mounted on my Canon 5D Mark IV.

The Sparrowhawk scanned the garden, alert and tense, then eventually flew off — leaving silence behind. Moments like this are a reminder: even in our back gardens, wild systems are constantly at work. We just don’t always notice them.

#EurasianSparrowhawk #AccipiterNisus #UrbanWildlife #GardenWildlife #BirdsOfPrey #NatureObservation #WildlifePhotography
#Canon5DMarkIV #Sigma100400 #HandheldPhotography #LowLightPhotography #BirdBehavior #UrbanEcology
#MorningLight #PreDawn #NaturalHistory #FieldObservation #BackyardNature #PixelfedPhotography #NatureLovers #BirdWatching #ScientificCuriosity
#ByMaikeldeBakker #WonderingLens #wonderinglens

Jukka Dec 20

December 20th, a warm and mostly overcast Saturday in Helsinki.

Dogs, a mysterious pumpkin, and a creature you should not see this time of year. I saw and heard quite a few birds as well, such as a sparrowhawk, two goshawks, a black woodpecker, robins, and a wren. I only managed to get poor photos of the sparrowhawk, not much else. My slow telephoto lens struggles with the lack of light.

Oh, I found the pumpkin next to a creek. What witchcraft.... Perhaps an offering to Ahti, a water god in the Finnish mythology, in return for fish. I've seen people fishing near that spot.

#helsinki
#tali
#finland
#photowalk
#dog
#dogsofpixelfed
#doggo
#snail
#eurasiansparrowhawk
#accipiternisus

Peter Put Oct 23

Sperwer - Sparrowhawk - accipiter nisus #sperwer #sparrowhawk #accipiternisus Nice surprise to see this one😃

Jukka Sep 3, 2025

An Eastern Finncattle bull and a great egret in Laajalahti, Espoo.

According to the weather forecast, the sun was supposed to come out to play yesterday. With that in mind, I decided to go for my longest photo walk yet – around 20 kilometers (~12.5 miles). The sun did not come out though and most of the photos I got are kinda dull. Plants and leaves are starting to wither slowly, but nothing is in vivid colors yet. I did encounter a woolly burdock that had somehow produced a flower despite being almost dead.

Then things got more interesting. I walked to Laajalahti in Espoo to see its nature reserve and wetland. My expectations were not high due to the weather, but to my surprise a great egret showed up in the distance. It’s not a common bird here. I photographed it for a while, and then I heard alarm calls behind me – a Eurasian sparrowhawk had landed on a branch. This was actually the first time I was able to take recognizable photos of it. I have often seen sparrowhawks in the spring and fall when they are migrating, but until yesterday they have always eluded my camera somehow. I hope it does not take years to get a better photo...

Seurasaari was next on my itinerary. But by the time I got there, it had started getting dark. I decided to visit my favorite photo locations on the island anyway and, predictably, took a few photos of subjects I have already photographed plenty of times earlier in better light. However, there was one more surprise in store for me. I spotted someone lying on the ground at the water’s edge photographing something… (Hi 👋 if you are reading this) What was there? Another great egret and it was very close! I even got a few okayish photos of it in the fading light. Definitely a high point of the day!

My feet are a bit sore right now, but the walk was worth it!

#greategret
#ardeaalba
#sparrowhawk
#accipiternisus
#woollyburdock
#arctiumtomentosum
#espoo
#laajalahti
#helsinki
#seurasaari
#september
#fall
#autumn