Video 1: Young male Sparrowhawk catches a Starling on a roof terrace in West London - graphic 

This is the first of three recordings made through a window during rain of a Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) which caught a Starling (Sternus vulgaris) on my third floor terrace in West London. Sorry about the heavy breathing, but I had just run down stairs to get my video camera, and it was amazing to be so close. I have a Peregrine twice try to catch a pigeon, which feed on the seeds dropped from my bird feeders by Goldfinches, but this is the first Sparrowhawk. I watched from a distance of about 3 metres through a wet pane of glass in the door to my terrace. It's not a video for the squeamish.