All things must pass, even this rain. No sooner does this thought occur to me, as I look across the mixed woodland and fields from my vantage point, than a rainbow arches from the ground into the cloud, brightening in the strengthening sun. The warmer, dry air seems to cast a spell across the landscape, and it comes alive.
Wood pigeons spring up and criss-cross the sky. A buzzard cries a plaintive “mew” from the top of a prominent oak. Gangs of finches and buntings – goldfinches, chaffinches, bramblings, yellowhammers – bounce through the air over the fields, and settle in the tops of the trees around me, whistling and chirruping. I watch the rainbow slowly fade. Columns of vapour rise from the green conifers in the distance.
There’s a sudden explosion of flapping wings above the forest. Dozens of wood pigeons rise in panic. More pigeons take to the air, and smaller birds follow, creating a dark wave of birds that spreads across the canopy. Moving steadily behind them, skimming the tops of the trees, is the cause – a large grey bird of prey – a goshawk.
Often confused with the much more common sparrowhawk – although size can be confusing, as female sparrowhawks can be as large as male goshawks – there are a number of distinguishing features that make this the rarer bird.
Its wings are noticeably broader and neck longer than a sparrowhawk’s, giving it more of a cross shape in flight compared with the sparrowhawk’s “T” shape. The body is bulky and barrel-like with broad leg feathers, and the wingbeats are slower, the flight more direct, more purposeful than a sparrowhawk’s.
Disappearing from the UK in the 19th century, thanks to persecution and deforestation, the goshawk has made a gradual recovery, but is still a scarce bird, especially in Sussex. And, like sparrowhawks, the birds tend to hunt down in the woods, so this a rare sight indeed.
The goshawk glides down and disappears among the trees. I look for it through my binoculars for what seems an age, hoping to glimpse it again, before I realise I’m still holding my breath.
