Sparrow Hawk V Great Spotted

Hi all
Not directly related to Calderdales birds but I found it fascinating to watch yesterday. I stopped at a mates house on the coast of the Llŷn Peninsular yesterday for a cold drink and a breather on long cycle tour. Richard has a large garden with plenty of bird feeders scattered about and he also has some free range hens which in theory are in a fenced enclosure but in reality they tend to roam at will around the garden of 4 acres or so. Whilst we stood watching a Great Spotted feeding on a nut feeder sitting on a table a female Sparrow Hawk made a near pass at the feeder obviously in the hopes that the pecker would take off and become more vulnerable. The pecker was having none of it and stuck close to the feeder but keeping a wary eye on the hawk who had circled back round and was perched on a telephone wire watching the pecker. This went on for a good five minutes with the pecker still clutching the feeder but nervously watching the hawk. The hawk decided to make another pass to try and dislodge the pecker but it simply moved round the other side of the feeder as the hawk swooped in. The hawk decided that it was wasting its time and flew off into the distance. The pecker waited a good few minutes and then commenced feeding on the nuts again.

With Richards garden being on the coast, scrub cover and trees are few are far between with not many hiding places should a hawk attack except for plantings in the garden and the hen house and run. The hen run is of wire and around 4 feet high but is not roofed over and and the hens are continually scratching around for seeds and food. This is not the first time Richard has seen an unsuccessful hawk attack in the garden and obviously the pecker knew as long as it did not take flight the hawk could not get at it safely. The local sparrows have also cottoned on to the food supply and sanctuary in the garden and hen run because as soon as one of them spots a hawk coming in they all drop like stones into the hen run. The boss of the hen run is a cockerel called Rocky and right vicious bugger he is as well, he chases and attacks absolutely anything (hes killed several rats) be it animal or human that comes near his hens, in fact Richards wife dare not go out into the garden if Rocky has got loose. The local birds have obviously cottoned on to the fact that no sane hawk is going anywhere near the hen run when Rocky is on patrol and so they drop into it for safety !