Wildlife - Birds and other Distinctive Photographs

Photographs of a Goshawk taken in my Devon garden

Wednesday s 14th January 2009

It was dramatic, unexpected, quite extraordinary & yet an utterly wonderful event that occurred one day in 2009 when a female juvenile Northern Goshawk brought down a Carrion Crow in my garden in Devon, England and decided to demolish it in the vegetable patch. Luckily I had the camera.

Photograph © Jackie Freeman Photography - Winkleigh, Devon - England

Female Goshawk on Kill, in a Devon garden.

Female Goshawk  (Accipiter Gentilis)

This is a selection from the 85 Goshawk photographs that I took of a young female Goshawk feeding on a Carrion Crow right after the kill. The Goshawk photos I took are now extensively published.

Female Juvenile Goshawk on Kill

Photograph © Jackie Freeman Photography - Winkleigh, Devon - England 2009

Goshawk feeding on a Carrion Crow

Photograph © Jackie Freeman Photography - Winkleigh, Devon - England

 Many, many thanks to all those birding and raptor enthusiasts across the world who have kindly written to me acknowledging the uniqueness of this rare opportunity which I witnessed one week in 2009 my Devonshire garden, with the visit of this hungry juvenile female Northern Goshawk.

 A rare British raptor, the Goshawk such as this, one so beautiful is seldom seen so I am told. As such, I am clearly privileged to have seen her at such close quarters and hope you enjoy this small selection of additional photographs of the Goshawk on her kill I took.

Goshawk spotted again in Devon:

Mark Jordan let us know that he and his wife were walking the coastal path near Countesbury on the North Devon coast when they saw a Goshawk. He tells me that they are both keen bird watchers and have seen this bird before, though they could not properly identify it at the time. He writes: "Today, however, we were watching the Goshawk for about 5-10 minutes. We were above it as it hunted along the steep ground and sea cliffs.

We later found a picture on your web site that positively confirmed our sighting. A female Goshawk!"

 Your many kind comments and congratulations in capturing this Goshawk on film are both encouraging and flattering and as many of you correctly suggested, the media and birding community interest is quite overwhelming.

 As for our young female Goshawk. She is seemingly not off course but hopefully making a home here in Devon as she'd was seen here the day after I took the photos! I doubt I will be so lucky enough to photograph her again though?

Goshawk.

Photograph © Jackie Freeman Photography - Winkleigh, Devon - England

 From what I understand from birding and Goshawk experts who have been in touch, Goshawks are quite shy  & somewhat timid birds of prey that inhabit woodland areas and have no problem in taking a crow or rabbit for dinner. However, a crow can be a bit of a beast too and cause irreparable damage to a young Goshawk, so she must have been pretty hungry to have gone this route.

 Now so many of you have confirmed that this is a young Female Goshawk and such a sighting both in Devon which is unusual and on the kill is very rare, there are bound to be some birding enthusiasts who can tell me more about this staggeringly beautiful and quite magnificent bird of prey?

Equally, it follows that this Female Goshawk may be on the lookout for a mate close by and hopefully, perhaps the spring may even bring some young to photograph.

Let's hope so.

Thank you all. 

Jackie Freeman

Juvenile Goshawk on a kill

Photograph © Jackie Freeman Photography

Winkleigh, Devon - England 2009

The Northern Goshawk:

 The Goshawk is a Raptor first known as the Goose Hawk and a medium to large bird of prey and prized in falconry as great hunter. The Northern Goshawk is the largest bird of prey in the genus Accipter which has 21 other types of Goshawks in its Genus.

Proven here by the Goshawk photos I was able to obtain, Goshawks are opportunistic predators who are able to pursue their prey in rapid and highly maneuverable flight. Not bothere by dense woodland it easily maneuvers through dense woods when hunting.

The most important prey species Goshawks normally take are usually small mammals and birds found in forest habitats, especially Grouse, Hare and Squirrel. Though Pigeon, Ducks, waterfowl, Dove and even Woodpeckers are not safe from a hungry Northern Goshawk.

During the 19th century, because of specimen collectors and the constant persecution of northern gamekeepers, Goshawks were near extinction but are now seen frequently in the Kielder forest in Northumberland, the largest remaining natural forest in Britain.

In the last 25 years the Goshawk has made a comeback and there are now more than 400 pairs in Wales.

The Goshawk breeds in coniferous forests and winters in farmlands, woodland edges and open country.

TO SEE OTHER MALE GOSHAWK PICTURES CLICK HERE

Other types of Goshawks include:

The Grey Goshawk - Accipiter novaehollandiae

Queen Charlotte Goshawk - Accipiter gentilis laingi

The Grey-bellied Goshawk  - Accipiter poliogaster  - South America

Crested Goshawk  - Accipiter trivirgatus – Tropical Asia

The Sulawesi Goshawk (Accipiter griseiceps) Indonesia

The Red-chested Goshawk (Accipiter toussenelii) West Africa

The African Goshawk (Accipiter tachiro)

Spot-tailed Goshawk (Accipiter trinotatus) Indonesia

The Grey Goshawk, Accipiter novaehollandiae, Australia

The White Goshawk - Australia

Brown Goshawk (Accipiter fasciatus) Australia

Christmas Island Goshawk (Accipiter fasciatus natalis)

The Black-mantled Goshawk (Accipiter melanochlamys) Indonesia

Pied Goshawk (Accipiter albogularis) New Guinea & Solomon Islands

Fiji Goshawk (Accipiter rufitorques)

White-bellied Goshawk (Accipiter haplochrous) New Caledonia

Moluccan Goshawk (Accipiter henicogrammus) Indonesia

Grey-headed Goshawk, Accipiter poliocephalus – New Guinea

New Britain Goshawk (Accipiter princeps) New Guinea

Black Goshawk (Accipiter melanoleuca)

Henst's Goshawk (Accipiter henstii) Madagascar

Meyer's Goshawk (Accipiter meyerianus) New Guinea