Shooting Times & Country

Bringing dishonour

DR MIKE SWAN IS HEAD OF EDUCATION AND THE SOUTHERN REGIONAL ADVISER FOR THE GAME & WILDLIFE CONSERVATION TRUST

Sparrowhawks. Every time I see one I cuss. Whether it is a big female in relation to my precious grey partridges, or a musket (male) with designs on the house martins under my eaves — and the blue tits and other small birds at my garden feeder — they are a threat to things I love. But the cuss is not without its measure of admiration; sparrowhawks are supreme stealth and ambush predators.

Picture this: a good friend was parked on his farm drive, along a narrow and dead straight

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