Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus)

On December 9th, 2019, I decided to switch systems. I sold all my Canon equipment and bought my first Sony camera and lens.
Excited about the new gear, I headed to my bird hide the next morning to take some photos. I had been waiting for just five minutes when a female sparrowhawk appeared on one of the branches. She posed for half an hour, and I eagerly photographed her, amazed by the new equipment, as the improvement was clear. I was excited about the future. However, I wasn’t happy with my first sparrowhawk photo not because of the equipment, but because of the composition and the “artificial” branch where the sparrowhawk was perched.
Determined and motivated to take a better photo of a sparrowhawk, I returned to that spot many times… but without success. It took over five years before I managed to photograph a sparrowhawk in that same location again and this time, with great success! A pair of sparrowhawks often visited my bird “pool” triggering trail cameras, where they posed beautifully, teasing me all along.
This story is yet another reminder that nature is unpredictable, and nothing is guaranteed. Without effort and determination, even luck won’t take you far!