he/she has found that if they put their talons out first, then they can grip onto the fat cake long enough to peck a big bit of fat out.  Unlike the magpies, and some other crows, who just fly at it and peck hoping to dislodge a bit that falls down then they collect the bits from the ground.  It’s the squirrels that usually hog it while the pigeons and blackbirds collect the bits that fall down while they are feeding.  The squirrels don’t like this much and will try and chase the birds away to no avail.  When this crow wants some however, it just pecks the squirrel to tell it to get lost!  It is very windy today so not a great photo as the crow, fat cake holder, feeding station post and all the background plants were all moving.  The long tailed tits are still about but all these big birds just scare them away.

Clever crow at the fat cake.

A couple of days ago while Harry was working in the garage with the door open, the sparrow hawk flew in and hit the back window.  Harry managed to pick it up and show me, then quickly let it go, quite unharmed by it’s experience.  I would have liked a photograph of it close up but we didn’t want to cause it any undue stress.