Goshawk

Today I had a look at the fjord below the house to see what birds were around. Numbers of seaducks (Common Eiders, Velvet Scoters and Long-tailed Ducks) are slowly increasing in the area. Also gull numbers are up. One of todays highlights was finding 9 Iceland Gulls feeding together with other gull species in the middle of the fjord. In the middle of a duck count, something spooked all the ducks as well as lot of other birds in the area. I looked up and there, just overhead, was a Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis (N=hønsehauk). I searched frantically for my camera, and managed to get a record shot. This bird was a 2nd calendar year bird i.e. hatched last year (2011).

Northern Goshawk, Midtsandan, Sør-Trøndelag 01.03.2012