A sparrowhawk fluttered across the rice paddy tonight in the fading light and disappeared into some distant trees; its flight pattern was quite distinctive, flapping its wings a few times and then gliding. I suspect is was Japanese but can’t say for sure as I didn’t get on it for long enough, and a grey sky combined with generally damp, overcast conditions didn’t help identification either. Nothing remarkable in a sparrowhawk being present at this time of the year but it is the first time I have observed one locally. We are perhaps a little too far away from the coast in Ratchaburi to get a significant flight of migratory accipters. But obviously, as this bird’s presence shows, some are in the area.
A beautiful Common Kingfisher, a couple of Brown Shrikes and a Blue-tailed Bee-eater underlined the current migratory tenor. This is an exciting time in the natural cycle.
Dodgy Birds 