Identification Please?

I sat on the patio yesterday reading my paper when I was disturbed by a
bird flying close by. It sounded like a fledgling. Sure enough up
ahead on the garden path was a young collared dove scuttering away into
the vegetable patch. However, unashamedly within 10m of me on the lawn
was a bird of prey making a meal of another collared dove.

I'm not sure whether it was a Kestrel, as it had a grey back feathers
and whiteish leg feathers. Could it have been a Merlin?

andon...

Nah! Merlin has a big main rotor :-)

Flyiñg Ñuñ 2°°6 +...

And is hidden under the bonnet of a Spitfire. LOL

Graham...

I'm pretty sure it is a Sparrowhawk because of the horizontal bars
across the breast... I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure.
You did well to get the picture, Saxman.

Saxman...

Thanks for the advice. I've had another look. It looks like a male
Sparrowhawk. Usually a woodland bird, but they do visit suburban
gardens (like mine) as well.

Not seen anything like it in our garden before.

This is not a brilliant picture, as I used 10x optical magnification
and cropped it as well.

ned...

Male Sparrowhawk.
Very good picture.
We have a pair make frequent visits to the garden but, I can't get
anywhere near them.
I thought they had been a bit scarce recently and yesterday found out
why.
The female was chased off by six screaming swallows who were all over
her!

Old Grizzly...

no idea what it is but its a lovely picture ;-)

Foxy at w*rk...

Excellent picture Saxman. We had one of those on my garden fence the other
day. I knew it was there as all the birdsong stopped immediately

Wrinklie One =?iso-8859-1?Q?=A9?=...

For comparison
http://sites.ecosse.net/wrinklie/sparrowhawk.jpg

Jackie...

I can't identify it but it is a really lovely picture

pandamonium...

I think it's a seagull. Or a vulture. It's not a peacock as they have big
fancy tails.

MCC...

Great photo - I'd guess at it being a female sparrowhawk - the male has a
redder breast - like the throat of your bird but all over, if you get my
drift.