Sparrow-hawk (female)

A really nice comp Hans. Love that perch branch and the BG. Birds not bad either

Nice composition incorporating dictates of the branch and well exposed. As an illustration of a juvenile sparrowhawk in an interesting pose (imminent take-off? Or bilateral wing stretch? Probably the latter given lack of pre-take-off crouch...) the blurred BG permits, nay, commands attention exclusively to the bird. If, however, the typical environmental context of a perched sparrowhawk were the intent, then i'd have blurred the BG considerably less. These little accipiters rarely perch in the open away from the partial concealment and protection of the branches and foliage of the wooded edge, whence they can dash with almost instantaneous acceleration to full speed to snatch their next feathered meal, usually within 10 to 30 meters from their original stand.
My comments are made based on considerable familiarity with the sharp-shinned hawk, our North American counterpart to your sparrowhawk. My limited observations of the latter suggest that the two species share many behavioral characteristics, although your sparrowhawk, like your goshawk, does seem somewhat less reticent to be found in close proximity to human population centers and are more tolerant of human encroachment into their "space".

Dave Graham
Estelline
East River, South Dakota

Nice perch and pose. I would like it just a bit brighter if you could without blowing those white feathers underneath. Sharon

Thanks all for commenting.
@Dave: thanks for your kind and explanatory comments ! As a matter of fact, this is a 2nd year bird, and she is not shy at all (usually these birds are extremely shy). She is perched more or less out in the open here, the unblurred version of this image is on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34763126@N04/7164312674/in/photostream
. You were right by the way: she was just stretching here, taking of took a mere 15 minutes if I remember correctly !
Cheers, Hans

Nice capture Hans.

Beautiful shot Hans. I really like the mossy perch as well.

Hans it looks great to me as posted.

Keith.

I like this image very much, Hans. I think both the FG subject and the BG blur look great!