Close encounter

[Walker570]

I was sat quietly in one of my cabins this morning when a magpie came flitting down just a couple of yards away followed very closely by a hen sparrow hawk with talons extended. The magpie turned in the air and swore at the hawk as only a magpie can do. they both landed within three yards of my position and not much more than a foot apart. The magpie then continued to swear at the hawk and both stood their ground. After a couple of minutes the magpie took off closely followed by the hawk.  There are times when crawling out from your duvet at crack of dawn is more than worth it.  I would think a sparrow hawk would be a little foolish to try it on with a magpie as that beak is a serious weapon and I have had blood drawn on a couple of occasions when retrieving them from a larsen.

The pity was they were just too close for me to attempt to poke my phone over the edge of the window and get a picture. Two sets of the most acute eyes in the world would have spotted that no problem.

[mel b3]

These close encounters are the real perks of shooting. The last time that I was out with the decoys , I watched a buzzard take an adult partridge, and fly away barely able to get off the ground , I watched as another buzzard dropped in at a massive speed and hit one of denys dippers, when it realised that it wasn't a real pigeon it took off and landed on a branch within touching distance of me , and within an hour, a kestrel hit the same dipper . It was one of the best days I've ever had in the field.

[Mice!]

your both right it's not all about pulling the trigger, the things you see when sat still watching are amazing.

[marsh man]

The fringe benefits can often be better than the main event , you go out in all weather conditions at a time when most people are still in there beds and you often see sights that most people will never see in there lives , if you are only interested in pulling the trigger then you would soon be looking for another pastime , nice one Walker 570

[snow white]

Your right I was rabbiting one evening along side a beach when this very fit young lady came jogging along the beach I am stood still not wanting to frighten the rabbits when she get to about 50 yards of stops start taking her top of then starts doing all sorts of exercises I had to stand there for twenty minutes as she done all this keep fit stuff I could not move in case she seen me and started screaming was I glad when she went I could start rabbiting again

[mel b3]

4 minutes ago, snow white said:

Your right I was rabbiting one evening along side a beach when this very fit young lady came jogging along the beach I am stood still not wanting to frighten the rabbits when she get to about 50 yards of stops start taking her top of then starts doing all sorts of exercises I had to stand there for twenty minutes as she done all this keep fit stuff I could not move in case she seen me and started screaming was I glad when she went I could start rabbiting again

😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅

[Medic1281]

I was trying to squeak in a fox one night when a barn owl hovered about 4ft above my head for a few seconds, then went on to land on the gate post about 10 yards away! I didn’t fire a shot that night, but was a very enjoyable night!

[Benthejockey]

I went out on sunday to have a look for a duck and had a blank but I had a trio of bats flying feet away from me. I saw some fallow does I've been watching since last season for the first time in months and they all had fawns in tow. In a few months I'll be stalking, probably unsuccessfully, that same herd of does but it's a pleasure to see them thriving.

[bobt]

standing in a hedge one evening waiting for the ducks, a sparrowhawk landed on the highest point in the hedge, my barrels, it soon realised and flew off.