Mantling Hawk

I was eating my breakfast and as usual I saw one of the voles scurry back to its burrow from the upturned terracotta urn where I leave seeds for the birds. Not long afterwards I looked up and saw what I think is a female sparrowhawk peering into the burrow. It had its wings spread. This is known as mantling and birds of prey usually do it to shield their catch from other predators. The bird hadn't caught anything so I don't know why it was doing it. It was there for a while and I was able to get quite a few shots. A shame that my settings were completely wrong and that I was shooting through the double glazing.

Sparrowhawks hunt in the early morning or evening when the light is low. They have very sharp eyesight and acute hearing. Their preferred prey is birds, mammals make up less than 2% of their diet. The females are twice the size of the males and sometimes kill their suitors. I hear tawny owls calling from the hedge, they will take sparrowhawks. I was interested to read that the musket was named after the sparrowhawk. Musket is an old name for a male sparrowhawk derived from old French.

PS It could be a juvenile male as they look very similar to females.