Although now well past the breeding season if you are lucky you may be treated to a close encounter with one of the sparrowhawks in the garden. They are still around although not as conspicuous. I saw one just the other day and was close enough to catch a fleeting glimpse of it. It was fairly small with a richly brown coloured plumage on its back and wings and so most likely to be a juvenile and possibly one of the fledglings from the nests earlier this year. If you are having some difficulty with identifying sparrowhawks I found this very useful page on the RSPB website:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/s/sparrowhawk/identification.aspx

There were also a couple of interesting articles about sparrowhawks and the ecological relationships between them and their songbird prey:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/funfactsandarticles/features/sparrowhawks_songbirds.aspx

http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdguide/name/s/sparrowhawk/toppredator.aspx

If you have any close encounters yourself with the Botanics Sparrowhawks then please feel free to post a comment below or post a social media message using #BotanicsSparrowhawks.