Sparrowhawk Chick

I wouldn't normally go so near a nest with chicks but I was helping a licensed ringer today. He hoped to ring the chicks but when we got there, we found that one had fledged and was flying about and this one looked pretty ready too, so too late to ring them. It has been hard keeping track of the birds' progress due to lockdown but it is good that they have survived thus far. There will be huge gaps this year in the data collected about breeding success etc. Sparrowhawks are common enough in the south, but pretty uncommon in Orkney since it is a woodland species and there isn't much of that habitat here.