Hubby and I were sitting outside on the field boundary next to our house quietly drinking a cup of tea and counting our blessings for the tranquil view we are fortunate to enjoy, when suddenly one of those episodes that happens so infrequently in life occurred. From the hedge behind us emerged a Sparrowhawk, a guided missile streak of brown that snatched a bird mid-air in front of us. There was a furious struggling second before the unfortunate bird dropped from the killer-claws down into the wheat and the thwarted hawk returned the way it had come.
The whole episode was so swift I almost doubted my own eyes! I hoped to see the victim fly up from the wheat-stems but did not. I just hope it wasn't one of our 'pet' starlings so busy right now nesting under our roof tiles and in a hole in the telegraph pole next to the field though I guess that weight for weight, it was more likely to have been a sparrow.
To top my bird-sightings this week, not three hundred yards from the house I spotted an albino pheasant parading across the lane. Completely white with red wattles. The local farmer tells me they see it around the dung heap piled high nearby so instead of holding my nose and hurrying my footsteps, on my next foray past it I shall watch out for the ghostly bird!
All I need now is to hear the call of the cuckoo that's been missing these past four or five years and my joy will be complete.
As you can see, I spotted the white pheasant - well I could hardly miss him could I...?
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