Goshawk!

The juvenile Goshawk over Potwells, North Mymms Park on 28th August 2024

It's been a 'Goshawk year' for me with several rare chance encounters rather than the usual sightings at well-known viewpoints in Yorkshire or the New Forest.  This magnificent bird of prey with its near-mythical status thanks to its rarity and secretive habits had, until this year, eluded me locally.  And yet, with reports of this species spreading nationally, it seemed only a matter of time before I would encounter one in Herts.

And indeed, on 16th March this year I stood in the garden observing a particularly good passage of Buzzards overhead when I suddenly spotted a soaring Goshawk with 2 or 3 Common Buzzards.  Immediately identifiable by its classic shape it appeared to be an adult bird with very white undersides and possibly a female given it was almost the same size as the Buzzards it soared with.  Typically, no camera to hand it disappeared out of sight - a new species for the garden list and for my 5-miles from home local patch list.

View over Prae Wood, Gorhambury, St Albans

A few days later I decided to check out a place that has for a long time been mooted as a possible sight for local Goshawks - Prae Wood in the Gorhambury Estate on the edge of St Albans.  My first visit with another local birder gave us a few 'likely' sightings encouraging us but not convincing us 100%.  A bonus bird took the form of a Woodlark flying up the valley but the Goshawk remains a real rarity and better views were needed before I could be sure!

Prae Wood from a southern viewpoint

A few days later I tried another viewpoint which gave reasonable views over the main woodland and was rewarded quite quickly with 2 separate Goshawks soaring up on several occasions before quickly dropping back down and out of sight.  The best view came as a Goshawk rose up only to be dived on by a Sparrowhawk - something I never thought I'd see in St Albans!  The Sparrowhawk looked tiny compared to the Goshawk and I wished I had got my digi-scope setup ready in time.

​Sadly, all the views were too brief to secure decent shots of the birds so others would just have to take my word for it!  Despite a couple of others seeing the birds in subsequent days it felt like a question mark remained for the doubting Thomas' of the bird-world.  With a bird like the Goshawk, it seems seeing really is believing!  A few later visits to the woods did not produce any further views and whether these birds bred or not remains to be seen.

Some other shots of the juvenile Goshawk over Potwells, North Mymms Park on 28th August

I had a number of other Goshawk encounters as the year went on with a bird soaring high over the New Forest and one that cut past almost at ground level when visiting the well-known hotspot that is Acres Down.  Unusually, on a return trip from Cornwall, a bird cruised across the A303 on Salisbury Plain as I drove.  Already, my Goshawk tally for the year was above average.

It was a real surprise therefore when one of my recent visits to Potwells in North Mymms Park on 28th August produced the best sighting of all - a local bird and one that soared long enough for me to capture some all-important photographs.  A fresh juvenile bird, evident from it's orangery-buff plumage causing speculation that this might indeed be a locally raised bird.  Of course, it may have just been passing through and sadly, to date, no further sightings have been made.  That said, Goshawk is firmly on my local radar and hopefully it won't be too long before breeding in the county is confirmed.