6.Kitchen sink drama

There have been times when, as a scene unfolds in front of me, I find it difficult to believe that what I am watching is not being stage-managed. Yet these dramas are often played out in the most mundane of circumstances. I shall never forget one particular drama that was acted out as I was washing the dishes during the particularly cold winter of 2009-10 – a kitchen sink drama if ever there was one.
As is so often the case, it started with a glimpse of movement. This time it was directly beneath the window, and once again my first guess, that it was a bird ducking underneath the small gate, was wrong. I leant forward to see what had distracted me from my chores (it doesn’t take very much) and was quite surprised to see that it was a stoat, struggling to make its way out of the drive towards the bridge. The reason for its exertions was shockingly clear – visible to the right of its head, which it held impossibly high, were the wings of a small bird, probably a chaffinch, still flapping desperately.
The stoat struggled on past the brambles on the river bank, and then lifted its front legs and its struggling captive onto the low wall that runs alongside the bridge. I knew there was no time to reach for my camera, so I shifted my position to see more clearly. What happened next took my breath away. Without warning a bird of prey, obviously attracted by the flapping of wings, dropped from above and covered the stoat with its own outstretched wings. It was a female sparrow hawk, a regular visitor to the garden, but by the time I had recognised her she was taking off again. Her talons were empty and the wall was bare. The only winner in this cruel drama was the stoat – it had disappeared into the cover of the brambles. The hawk went hungry, but the fate of the finch was much worse.
The whole episode had lasted no more than ten seconds, but what an experience! How many hours, days or even years would I have to sit with a camera to capture such a sequence of events? The lesson, of course, is ‘be vigilant’. Anyone interested in wildlife can be a witness to such events, as long as their eyes are open and not glued to the washing-up bowl or the television.