A walk by the river

With the local river still flowing, albeit lower, through the village I often taken my labrador Jazz out for a walk along it. It was very mild with clear blue skies as we walked along the footpath. Blackthorns were white with blossoms with many trees just beginning to burst into leaf.

Along the way the dog caught scent of something in the hedgerow by the water. I assumed it was a duck as we had seen a few along the river in the weeks before but was surprised to see a sparrowhawk burst out of the hedge and fly further along the lane, carrying its prey in its talons as it went. As we continued our walk along the lane, the sparrow hawk returned flying by us and up past a couple of houses, without it's prey but with yellow eyes glaring at us as it went. It was a male, with slate grey upperparts and barred breast with warm orange cheeks and sides. I did a little watercolour that evening of a sparrowhawk as a result. 

Watercolour of a male Sparrowhawk

Further along, Jazz found what the sparrowhawk had been eating. Most of it was gone aside from the feet and wings and tail.

Not many birds have red feet so I decided to look up what it could be. The orange colouration under the tail with the red feet to me suggest it was a red-legged partridge, quite a large prey for a sparrowhawk, especially a male as females are larger. Sparrowhawks aren't the most efficient killers of larger prey so hopefully the partridge didn't suffer too much.

Heading back the way we came we returned to the spot on the hedgerow where my dog had flushed out the hawk. Looking into the hedge I could see a mass of feathers where he had been plucking the bird.

Returning to the river I watched as my dog harnessed her inner-beaver, dragging out the largest branches and rocks she could find in the water up to the bank. Making the most of the spring sunshine a couple of last year's small tortoiseshells flitted about in the warm sunlight. As it hadn't rained in a while the water was wonderfully clear as it lazed along its the road. It's only a seasonal river that doesn't flow for some years so it won't be around much longer with the increasing heat. It had flowed for the last two years which has invited a a couple of pairs of grey wagtails to stay nearby and you could hear them 'pipping' as we walked by. I always feel they're rather poorly named as it's their lemon yellow bellies and tail which stand out rather than their grey backs.

Still, I'm sure that both they (and the dog) will make the most of the river while it lasts.