I enjoyed a one day tour of the Joetsu area in Niigata as winter was fading away. I had my head buried in work and suddenly it was lifted from the bog. Streets recently smothered in black ice were drying up as the sun beamed down from a clear, blue sky. We first visited “Gangidori”, an historical street and found it sitting quietly still, under the melting snow. Young people first walked here with plans and dreams and decades came and went like days. I’m sure the footpaths provide passage for us now and will do for others to shelter through the snow seasons to come long after we’re gone.
Quiet and still and present.
From these streets, we then visited Takada Castle Site Park. The park is surrounded by moats and canals, that, on this day, were still holding on to the freeze. Beautiful, thin shelves of ice glistened over the surface of the water in the late morning sunlight with a scattering of ducks and walkways linked by bridges meandering around the castle, which stood wondrously overlooking the grounds from her centre stage. All framed by distant mountains seemingly etched on frosted glass.
Then, of course it was lunch time. Kanzuri Nabe. Delicious, warming, and energizing. I imagined it like a roasted noodle. The texture was thick, but not heavy. Hmmn. Just one more, please.
Nourished and refreshed, we arrived at the oldest winery in Japan. Iwanohara Vineyard in Joetsu is a story of determination and dedication and I recommend a tour to the store rooms where you can stand and listen to the history of the surrounding walls and feel the atmosphere of the ripening of time. Again, the frozen winters and rainy summers gift the soil with riches from the past for the palette of palates for the future. Be prepared to depart with an arm full of souvenirs.
We took a short break and stood out on the roads between the wide unused rice fields of winter and marveled at the glare of the mountains. Then we trekked to Kasugayama Shrine. It’s a beautiful shrine with spacious grounds weaving into the mountains. We climbed a tall stairway to a Tori gate at the top and were greeted by numerous Kami overseeing our visit. It is so fortunate to feel so welcomed and protected as the distant travelers we are, and I am grateful for such peace and wisdom bestowed upon me. I hope I can somehow express my gratitude and my respect. I hope my story and pictures can do justice in portraying such important cultural, and natural beauty on this earth.
I highly recommend this tour! if you want to find out more have a look at their website: Edge_of_Niigata_Joetsu_Tour
We had weeks of freezing, dull weather, but suddenly we had a glorious spring weekend. I went to Fukushimagata on Saturday but barely got any photos. I was surprised to see most of the geese and swans had gone. Then today I was really happy to see Daurian Redstarts. Surely a sign of spring.
After a very cold week, Saturday brought sunshine to Niigata City. I woke up early but didn’t want to go out on black ice when it was 1 degree celsius and waited till after 8. By then, the centre of the roads had begun to thaw and I felt safer going out and about. I was in different minds where to go, but I’m glad I chose my old friend, Fukushimagata.
At first, I stayed along a canal in hope of finding Falcated Ducks, and a possible raptor using it as a corridor, but the Falcated Ducks were no longer where I knew them to be and there seemed to be more going on in the distance around me.
As I started to move up the canal towards the wetlands I encountered a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Japanese Green Woodpecker, Japanese Tits, and Brambling at the trees to the side. The woodpeckers flew off quickly so I continued to step through the snow towards the wetland. Once I got to the next bridge, something stirred up the geese around me and there was noise and movement all about. I first came to Fukushimagata, Niigata, in 2004, and was amazed by the thousands of geese that autumn. As the years passed, I felt there has been fewer, but yesterday, I felt the same as I did when I first visited. It was lovely to see so many large, wild birds with the snow covered mountains in the background and the sun reflected off the melting white ground.
Greater White-fronted GooseBean Goose
Small family groups of humans and lone birders trudged to the observatory within the wetlands, but I chose to sit on an old bench and wait for the birds to come to me. Which they did. Lots of close encounters with swans, and geese, Great Cormorants, and coot. The Great Egret had no fear of me, and arrived right in front of me and stalked calmly at the water’s edge. At times the geese stirred up, and I was thrilled to see a distant White-tailed Eagle mixing up the place before it decided to land in a a tree out in the middle of the wetlands. I sat there waiting for it to get back into action, but it out-waited me, and I left to walk my dog before the fine day came to an end. I sat long enough to watch the eagle being mobbed by passing crows, harriers, buzzards, Black-eared Kites and anyone else bothered by its presence. Not me. I felt very calm sitting there with all the wild birds about me with the light reflecting upwards. I got sunburnt, but it was time to myself, and I did manage to walk an appreciative dog for 90 minutes in the sun afterwards. Guilt free happiness for one day.
A Japanese Buzzard prepares to swoop down at a White-tailed Eagle sitting in the tree below. The other raptor coming front-on is a Black-eared Kite.
I was standing alone with a cold wind gust up against my back and snow flakes sparsely twirling about when a pigeon hurried right past my face. I barely had time to begin to inhale when this Peregrine appeared in front of me from the same direction. I managed to fire off just four frames; the first two – blank sky, the third this image, and the fourth, blank sky again.
I arrived back to Japan after my September adventure in Australia and it was still hot. I walked around in a dream with the images of Fairy-wrens, Galahs, and kangaroos in my mind and the the days turned to nights and the bright summer light eventually faded and the winds came. Always in late October, there is a time when I find myself laying awake in the midst of night listening to the faint calls of swans arriving from the far north and the howls of the wind open a new door in my outlook and my wardrobe. A change of clothes and excitement that the winter birds have arrived to comfort me in the coming cold.
Niigata has two days when the sky is blue and the winds are gentle, then five when it sleets and gusts. As I get older, I wish to rest when I should be “making hay”, then I have an urge to go out when the wind will hurt my bones. Birds can be funny here too. I can go out and search and search to find crows and sparrows when it’s fine, but I have learned I can find something special when I should be playing guitar in a warm room with a cup of hot green tea. It is the brief outing in poor conditions when I seem to get unexpected thrills right in front of my face, such a Peregrine Falcon or Falcated Duck. I did, however venture out to find a Durian Redstart on a sunny afternoon the week before my winter vacation. To me it was a sign it was unlikely to snow as I usually see these superb little birds after the heavy snow season has come to an end, sometimes late February but I think mostly March. We did have some brief snow events so far this winter but my weather apps mostly describe days of “Freezing Rain”. I am still amazed to see people jogging in such conditions, when my mind is searching for cricket updates from home where the days are hot.
Durian Redstart
Bull-headed Shrike
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Eastern Buzzrd
Also now known as
Japanese Buzzard
I did have one other nice experience at Toyanogata on one of the two sunny days in my winter vacation watching, filming, and photographing, a Great Spotted Woodpecker pecking away undeterred by my presence stumbling below trying to find position with good light and angle. Woodpeckers are always a thrill for an Australian. Maybe I will go out looking again.
Another encounter with a peregrine in the snow.A Japanese Tree SparrowJapanese BuzzardBull-headed Shrike
Well. I haven’t been here for a while. Nice to see it is still around. Thank you, Google.
I have tried making websites on other platforms like Square Space and WordPress, but I don’t know what I’m doing and really, who has time?
Today, I arrived fairly early at Hyoko in Agano City, Niigata, and I was delighted to see lots of wild swans before they left for the surrounding fields. I have not been out much the last few months. The local government announced to avoid solo activities because of the recent aggressive bear situation and I don’t want to be the guy someone has to rescue.
I think my photography is getting worse and all looks the same as many years ago. Nothing new to speak about, but I love standing out in the wind with these wonderful things around me.
Rainbow Bee-eater diving into a dam on the Darling Downs, Queensland, September 2025.
Runaway Trains
Not long ago, I finished only my second real holiday since before the pandemic. It was my second visit to Australia since 2019. The days went by so fast. I barely started each day and my mind and body were overtaken by the atoms buzzing around me. I thought I had plans, but I had no chance to do everything with few days and the distractions all about me. All better than my plans. Each day was like riding in an old wooden buffet car of a runaway train.
Brown Goshawk
Australian Pelican
Black Swan
I had barely stepped both feet out of the customs and security exits at Brisbane Airport and I was amazed to see the large soaring figure of an adult White-bellied Sea-Eagle in front of the passenger pick-up. Rob and Rod then grabbed me by the collar and we were whisked around giant warehouses where bouncing monster trucks were surrounded by Australian Pelicans, Black Swans, Mangrove Gerygones, Superb Fairy-wrens, Brown Goshawks, Brahminy Kites and other distant sea eagles. So much was going on before the minute-hand completed a single circuit. And as far as a buffet car goes, in Japan, we can enjoy many exotic delicacies like miso ramen, sashimi from the Sea of Japan, koshihikari rice, sasadangos, and even Murakami beef, but nothing is anything like one of Sid’s pies.
Tawny Frogmouth
Cutlery bounced and rattled on the saucer in front of me with all the windows wide down as the carriage slid and clattered and rattled on rusted, weathered rails. I stuck my head out into the sunshine and hooed and cooed with the wind blasting up my nostrils. It only seemed a moment before we faded into the dark quiet of a tunnel, and I awoke back, bouncing around in my booth with the roar of the wind, and persistent calls of Butcherbirds, Magpies, Currawongs, Lorikeets, and even a distant Kookaburra, announcing the start another journey on the new Bakelite speakers.
Rainbow Bee-eater with a wasp.
It was the middle of the week in September when we trekked to the doorstep of the west. Far away from working days in the city. Thank you to Martin and Karen for your generosity. Milly, Lincoln, Blackie, and the Bottle Trees, all greeted me kindly and I listened intently to the absence of motors and devices. The depth of the night sky is truly incredible from here. The sky is so bright, and the ground so dark; until your headlamp catches thousands of eyes of Wolf Spiders gazing back at you. Like a reflection of the night sky.
On the second night, as I went to unzip the entrance to my tent, a large Huntsman ran down along the path of the zipper and departed to the right. I entered the tent, organised my things, and as I lay down I realised I hadn’t closed the outer flaps. Not to worry. The night breeze was clean and fresh and I could watch satellites pass through the stars. Then it started to rain. A city boy in the bush, I unzipped the inner layer to reach out and zip up the outer. All done, I rested flat on my back and watched the return of the Huntsman. He was inside the outer layer but outside the inner layer. His shape was beautiful directly above my face and I fell deeply asleep.
Double-barred Finch late in the morning
I woke in the same position. Like I came out of the tunnel unmoved. It was just before six, and the spider had gone. I thought about how clear my mind felt and I had no pain in my back. Then I noticed the wisps and trills of Fairy-wrens just metres to the back of my tent. The train carriage was sharply bouncing about and I had no time to relax. It was the third and final chance to chase Purple-backed Fairy-wrens. They had been there from the start. They hopped and chatted right in front of me but were always obscured by sticks and stalks, and leaves. When I crept closer they would go to the back of the shrub they were in, then flutter to a farther bush. I followed them blindly and I treaded steadfully onward, but they out-paced me as they dispersed outback. I finally gave up the chase realising each time their voices had become more distant and spread out. It was unlikely I could catch up with them. I stood alone. Only in view of the Bottle Trees. The tea in my cup was stale and cold and the carriage was empty. I would head back to the camp. Then I noticed. Every time I headed back to the camp, the fairies would follow me. They’d get close behind just before I could get back to my seat. I thought they were tormenting me.
I don’t remember when it happened. The fairy-wrens were around the camp and I begrudgingly got off my seat to have another go at capturing their image. I felt somewhat cynical, and doubtful. It was still nice being beside the trees and the grasses, but I was less ambitious about my photography and stopped and browsed my camera menu. I totally removed my attention from the birds. Without any warning, five of them popped their faces out barely 2 metres away. As if they were wondering why I was no longer playing with them. In just a moment I grabbed some pictures to be happy with. Then I knew they weren’t tormenting me at all. Maybe they enjoyed the attention and were playing with me. It felt like a Dreamtime story. I’m sure it is. I miss them now. Not for their pictures, but for their companionship.
I would understand if Ludwig Leichhardt followed Fairy-wrens far, far through the lands and into the stars.
Rob and I attempted to photograph Rainbow Bee-eaters as they splashed into a dam for insects, and the sun slowly went down. It was amazing and frustrating, and we didn’t know if we were getting any useful photographs, yet we could have continued that for eternity too, if the day hadn’t ended.
(Images Below: Spiny-checked Honey-eater in flight, Brown Honey-eater drinking, and Black-striped Wallabies.)
Grey Kangaroos on the Darling Downs
I visited the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers Parade for the first time in more than twenty years. They announced it was only the second time it had ever rained. Niigata City celebrated their dance festival during the same period, and it was reported to me when I returned, that it was sunny. It rained there my last few visits. One must not be superstitious.
South-eastern Queensland is vivid and beautiful in September. I was freezing at night during my first week, but the forecast was for 36 Celsius in Brisbane just days after I left. It is an old, wooden carriage that rattles and bounces, and bumps. But the light bounces like metal wheels in all directions and the breezes bring aromas of pollen, bat poo, oxygen and stories.
Lace Monitor on the Darling Downs
Welcome Swallow
Leaden Flycatcher
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Orchid
Bearded Dragon in the Lockyer ValleySuperb Fairy-wren at Duggan Park
I gate-crashed one event of the inaugural Toowoomba Bird Fair. It is now part of the Carnival of Flowers, which is forever blooming brighter and wider. My friend Mick, picked me up this time as well as helping a birding tour of Duggan Park, where we found Superb Fairy-wrens, Yellow-rumped Thornbills, Welcome Swallows, Galahs, Little Corellas, White Ibis, Wedge-tailed Eagles, et, al; and even a Dollarbird. Furthermore, I was reminded there are other people in the world who love birds and even photograph them. Mick and I then witnessed the beginning of a whole new era of naturalists and Astro travellers taking up the art at the Toowoomba Bird Habitat with bird focussed activities for children. I hope they’ll join up to celebrate the 50th reunion in 2075, and laugh about the days when they started.
GalahLittle Corella
I cannot complete a complete diary of my holiday for there is limited space on the internet. I can only recall my tour along the north shore of Brisbane, where we ate fish and chips, and prawns from the hand-script of Herman Melville. I bought a freshly made Cappuccino and sipped it as I photographed a beautiful Brahminy Kite. I’ve decided now to always sip cappuccinos while photographing raptors. That was on a Friday. On Monday morning I was asked to teach the alphabet to Grade Threes. Fortunately, the students were patient and kind to me as I fumbled through it. Just as everyone else.
Dogfight between Australian Hobby and a Whistling Kite
Magpie Geese at Gatton Uni
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Magpie Goose in flight
I didn’t see who placed a new cup of tea in front of me, but I see the cup is now sitting still and quiet on the saucer, and the tea is hot and fresh. Thank you. It would be nice though, to have just one more chocolate brownie.
Apart from my visit to Australia, my 2024 was fairly uneventful birding wise. I’m on holidays at the moment but rain, rain, rain, wind, wind, wind, has been the schedule since December started. Snow is on the menu for tomorrow. The max will be 3, but it has been steadily going between 3 and 5 Celsius for a while now. It is dark. The middle of the day is too dark for bird photography. I’ve had my eye on the Nikkor 600mm f6.3 for a while, but it’d be too dark at that aperture. Even f4 struggles in the middle of winter here.
The photos I’m adding today are from a stroll through Toyanogata on the first day of 2025. It was a better day than last year. I ended up huddled on a rooftop with the threat of tsunami after the earthquake, and the year before I was sick in bed. Yesterday was dark, but I could go for a walk. I saw a Great-spotted Woodpecker, a Northern Goshawk and a Japanese Green Pheasant, but I was too slow to get clear shots. I did see lots of shrikes however. I don’t have many photos of shrikes, so I might try and get some if I have a chance in the days ahead. Birds were the usual suspects, and I was focussing on a Brown-eared Bulbul when it narrowly escaped a charging shrike. The shrike was much smaller, but very fast and aggressive. I always see these things and forget to take the photo!
Five years is a long time. I’d last visited home before the covid stuff, but I eventually got home to see family and friends, eat a lot, and spend some time with my beloved Australian nature this August. I could write about everyone and everything as a detailed summary, but I feel it’s December now, and time has passed. No need to write about the details. Just tell that it was the highlight of my year, and I want to say thank you to all.
I will say I had the most amazing experience with this beautiful Square-tailed Kite who didn’t care about me standing right in front of it when it came and broke off nesting materials, then circled all around me. What a wonderful experience.
When I was a kid, I read old yellowing pages about the effects of the agricultural chemical DDT on raptors such as Ospreys and Peregrine Falcons. The birds ingested the chemical via their diet and it caused the thinning of their eggshells. The rate they were disappearing, it was unlikely they’d see the new century.
I remember seeing my first Osprey sitting high up on a dead tree at the side of the Tingalpa Reservoir, Capalaba, (Queensland, Australia) during the hot mid-afternoon sun on Christmas Day in 1988. I was thrilled and took almost a whole roll of film with my Pentax K1000 and Sigma 80-250mm lens. I think my photos just looked like a grey match stick – the stem of the branch with a grey round blob at the end of it. (Maybe expensive slide film such as Ektachrome).
In the last week of March this year, 2024, I was standing at the edge of the Fukushimagata (wetlands) in Niigata, and I saw an osprey overhead. No big deal anymore. They are resident at the wetlands, and I am used to seeing them. However, after that osprey went by, another one came from another direction. I was lining up a circling bird to photograph it when another crossed its path with a large fish. I was just there for about two hours and saw a continuous flow of busy ospreys. The wetlands are surrounded by vast, then empty rice fields that had just thawed from the winter, and the ospreys crossed the fields at random. I went for a walk away from the wetland area and I saw one osprey hurrying over my left shoulder towards the water, and as I turned to watch it, I saw another one passing over me with another fish. I took it for granted and just visited twice. I think it rained on the Tuesday, but I saw it all happening again on the Wednesday. I visited again on the Friday and stood there for four hours, but didn’t see one. The flurry had finished. It was pretty amazing to see in Japan, twenty-four years into the new century. If I think back to 1988, I had no idea, I’d ever see such a thing.
What a catchy title, I know, but as my usual Goldilocks-self, I had been pining for that 400mm 4.5 Nikon lens for the last year and a bit. For me, quick and nimble gets most of my best pics, but my experience yesterday, made me feel ‘Goldilocks’ should stick with the porridge she has. 500mm maybe just right for now.
It was sunny a fair bit after the January 1 earthquake, but I didn’t’t feel like standing at the edge of a remote wetland worrying about aftershocks and the near-by sea. Yesterday, was my first outing to Fukushimagata since December 28, 2023. It was pretty dull when I got there and I think most of the swans and geese have already headed north. I saw an eagle back in December, but I think any “Steller’s”, would be gone by now, though I think we should still have a chance to see a “white-tail” until the end of March. The joy of the day was the continuing views of osprey appearing every few minutes and catching fish around me.
I think my 500mm f5.6 is still pretty nice despite squeaks and rattles after five years of regular use. The new 600mm f6.3 might suit me better if I love standing around the wetlands, but as you can see by the dullness of these images, I am wary of going from 5.6 to 6.3, even though it is such a small difference.
Way back when I was young, osprey and peregrines were fading in numbers and became symbols of the damage of chemicals to the environment but I’m happy to announce that these many years later, osprey are one of the more common raptors I see in Niigata.
They seemed to be finding fish just behind a small island not so far off-shore from where I was standing but they’d disappear behind the reeds. I could hear the ‘splash’, but would have to wait for them to come back up before I could see them again.
Some ducks still remain, always lots of Great Cormorants and Great Grebe, with a few Marsh Harriers floating around the place. I love seeing them up against the snow-covered mountains. Of course it’s nice to have close-ups, but framing them in the surrounding environment is more, er, more. It’s more to look at?
Well. Not much snow this winter, and it’s raining here much of the time but I hope to return soon. March at Fukushimagata has its surprises.
Again, I have been visiting the same place at Toyanogata and recognise the same winter birds in the same place. I have found a female Great Spotted Woodpecker who doesn’t care about me following and watching her. She just ignores me and gets on with her business of pecking.
Last week, I had a super encounter with an adult Northern Goshawk. I had all my camera settings for chasing the woodpecker, and I had no time to change them when I saw the goshawk coming overhead. I just had to hold the lens steady and get some photos as it passed overhead like a torpedo. (As if I were standing on the seabed looking up)
Goshawks often fly with shallow, but fast wingbeats followed by short glides. It is really rare to see an adult fly over me like this. A few seconds, and it was gone.
Yesterday, I returned and saw the woodpecker. I saw another younger goshawk, but failed to get any pics while it flew behind tress. I also saw lots of waterfowl and the most osprey I have ver seen in the one place. I saw one osprey stoop, but the glide harrier-like over the top of the water, but again I was obscured by trees to see what it took. I have suspicions that the osprey in this place may also take waterfowl. I remember many years ago cycling on the other side of the Toyano lake and crossed paths with an osprey struggling in flight with something large, and heavy, and the moment we crossed, I believe I saw the green head and yellow bill of a male mallard in its clutches. I guess, I should return to do further research. Below, is a collection of some pics from yesterday.
Usually this time of year, I head to the wetlands searching for raptors, but to be honest, I just keep taking the same photographs year after year. Don’t get me wrong, I love fleeting encounters with raptors, but my image folders become stale looking at the same birds with similar poses. This year, my biggest resolution is to attempt to photograph difficult and elusive birds such as woodpeckers. I have seen three species this year, and as aways they appear briefly, then flick away to another tree, or they stay on the back of the tree, and we play stupid hide-and-seek games. One thing is for sure though – They are pretty lovely. Even just a brief glimpse is a joy. Thus, I will make an effort to improve on my woodpecker photo collection. Here are some images taken at Toyanogata, Niigata, last Friday. Maybe I was just there for ten minutes so I’m sure I can do better with greater effort. These photos are of a Great Spotted Woodpecker, but I discovered Niigata can have two versions, the “Eurasian” and/or the “Japanese”. I still think this a a “Japanese Great Spotted Woodpecker.
I did have a nice encounter with a young White-tailed Eagle on December 28. My photos are pedestrian but it’s always thrilling to have the breeze cross over your shoulder.
I didn’t really get into the spirit of summer. When I did go out, I found everything to be quiet and unbearably hot. July and August were very dry in Niigata, and life around me seemed to be tired. I had hoped earlier to get some nice dragonfly pics, but I didn’t really find the numbers and variety of past years. I recall one large emperor who droned by me with a deep but dull buzz. He was lacking colour and that high frequency buzz that thrills us. He seemed tired and dried out and it was just the start of August. I lost my motivation.
Above is a photo taken at Fukushimagata on Sunday October 1st. By this time I’d expect to see patches of newly arrived ducks from the north. It was pretty quiet and no sign of any new comers. Just the regular Grey Herons and Little Egrets. (Lots of Great Crested Grebes)
I was fortunate to go out yesterday morning, October 2nd, and arrived at Hyoko about 9:30. I was happy to see the ducks I had been expecting. I found many of them sleeping in the lily pads left over from summer. They had found somewhere to rest after their long flights south.
I felt the summer was at its end as the air cooled. Within the next two hours I discovered more batches of travellers dropping from high in the sky onto the lake. The numbers increased noticeably.
There were lots of egrets walking around on the leaves to, and I watched snap up lots of tiny morsels of something?
I did see a peregrine fly over fairly high up when I first arrived but it seemed to have another destination in mind. I only saw the regular Black-eared Kites, and crows but no other raptors. They will show up soon. In the meantime, I felt the loneliness of summer drfting away as more and more waterfowl arrived. I have already edited the pics I wanted to use for this post but I forgot about one rail and several coot. I will add them sometime, someday.
I was surprised to find these ugly duckings. I thought it a bit late in the season. They seemed pretty relaxed and happy though. I finished the morning off with a lovely little Grey-streaked Flycatcher (I hope I’m right?) which is a bird I often see during Niigata’s autumn.
That’s it for my first post using WordPress for this blog. I hope more exciting things will come and I will try to keep it alive with a post every ten days or so.
Welcome to my blog at WordPress. I am making transition from Squarespace and have imported my posts from 2009. I see I am having some trouble with all images being displayed, but the articles are still intact. I am happy I can provide an archive as a complete list, so if you have time to spare, please take a look at a date of your choice.
I have been busy improving my book production through Blurb and I’m very happy with the two books I have created this year, “Ten Toowoomba Birds for Happiness and Friendship” and “Ducks I Have Known”. If you like my photography, I’m sure you would be very happy with either of these books and any sales will help me to create more. I am always working to improve my creative output.
Ten Toowoomba Birds for Happiness and Friendship
A stunning collection of bird photography featuring ten beautiful birds from Toowoomba, celebrating nature’s joy and the bonds of friendship.
A young Northern Goshawk was very aggressively shaking and ripping into this tree branch.
I came across this young Northern Goshawk giving this tree branch a big shake and ripping off the bark. There are lots of large bugs and beetles in Japan this season. It’s good to see this young bird wasn’t shy fending for itself. I took lots of pics of it really smacking shaking the branch about. In fact the branch snapped and both it and the goshawk tumbled a metre or two before the goshawk managed to save itself and fly to another tree.
