This is the moment a sparrow hawk raided a blackbird's garden nest.Double glazing surveyor Mark Parsons, 58, caught the action on a camera he set up after noticing blackbirds building their nest. The clip shows the predator perched on top of the nest eyeing up its prey - a baby blackbird - before yanking it out with its mouth.It quickly flies off though, leaving the bird behind. Mark, from Adfa, in Powys, Wales, said: "I was very surprised at seeing the Sparrowhawk raiding the nest, it was a first for me."I was initially upset but obviously it's nature and I eventually thought how lucky I was to have witnessed it."The keen twitcher said he set up the camera in early April as 'something to do in lockdown' and caught the attack on film on May 3."I just thought it would be nice to see them progress and see how they fed," he added."I've always been a keen twitcher."I like doing it, going out as often as I can to try and get pics of the local red kites and curlews which are local to us. "The camera detects motion then saves the clip to the micro SD card, I looked at the clips daily and actually saw the sparrow hawk but by the time I got outside it had gone."I've taken the camera down now and it's currently being used as security for the house."I will put it up again next year if I am lucky enough to get another nest in a good location."
This is the moment a sparrow hawk raided a blackbird's garden nest.Double glazing surveyor Mark Parsons, 58, caught the action on a camera he set up after noticing blackbirds building their nest.
The clip shows the predator perched on top of the nest eyeing up its prey - a baby blackbird - before yanking it out with its mouth.It quickly flies off though, leaving the bird behind.
Mark, from Adfa, in Powys, Wales, said: "I was very surprised at seeing the Sparrowhawk raiding the nest, it was a first for me."I was initially upset but obviously it's nature and I eventually thought how lucky I was to have witnessed it."The keen twitcher said he set up the camera in early April as 'something to do in lockdown' and caught the attack on film on May 3."I just thought it would be nice to see them progress and see how they fed," he added."I've always been a keen twitcher."I like doing it, going out as often as I can to try and get pics of the local red kites and curlews which are local to us.
"The camera detects motion then saves the clip to the micro SD card, I looked at the clips daily and actually saw the sparrow hawk but by the time I got outside it had gone."I've taken the camera down now and it's currently being used as security for the house."I will put it up again next year if I am lucky enough to get another nest in a good location."
