hans holbein portrait of robertus cheseman 1533
Yesterday a male sparrow hawk clashed full speed against a large window in our living room. It was quite a blow. The sparrow hawk fell down, collected himself and slowly flew away.The sparrowhawk was probably attacking songbirds around the feeding place in our garden. The sparrow hawk is a ferocious bird, it attacks with high speed and without restraint. This one miscalculated his angle of attack. The sparrow hawk is a regular visitor,often flying over the feeding place. I suspect that this summer at sunset a sparrow hawk killed one of the three young barn owls living in the attic of our farm. The sparrow hawk is not the only bird of prey in our neighborhood. Most common is the buzzard but falcons also visit our neighborhood. The falcon is probably the most painted bird of prey in history. In the middle ages peregrine falcons were often used by the nobility for hunting and can be seen on many paintings. Not only in Europe but also in the East. The famous shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu was a passionate hunter.The peregrine was considered a royal bird, more armed by its courage than its claws. According to Karel van Mander the peregrine falcon is a symbol for the sharp or fast human mind. I would say that courage and a sharp/fast mind do not always coincide. The sparrow hawk in our garden is a good example