MALE SPARROWHAWK

As I watched the Goldfinches (mentioned below), I saw a Sparrowhawk being mobbed by a Carrion Crow in the distant sky, about half a mile from where I was sat. The Sparrowhawk was too small to be a female Sparrowhawk, and as the two birds continued their 'dogfight', they got closer and the orange breast of the male hawk was revealed to me briefly, in the very clear winter sunshine.
I've noticed sparrowhawks regularly from our old address (14 doors up the street), but this was the first I have seen from the garden of our present address.
NB. The photo (above right) was taken by Tim Ball (from the excellent Birds of Berkshire Website). This is the same geezer who snapped the photo of the Peregrine mentioned on "Blue-Grey" also.
The Sparrowhawk in the photo is a male Sparrowhawk, ringed on the 24th November 2006 (when the photo was taken) at Caversham Heights, Reading - less than a mile from the position of the Sparrowhawk I saw this morning.
I will never know if it is the same individual, but it most certainly could be!
The photos below are taken from the fantastic Arthur Grosset site, [(c) Arthur Grosset] (a birdwatcher in Scotland) and shows dogfights between two sparrowhawks and the same (Hooded) Crow. This will give you an idea of the sexual dimorphism of the Sparrowhawk. The First photo is of the "Hoodie" chasing the smaller male Sparrowhawk, (slate grey back, orange barred breast); the second is of the larger female (brown above, barred brown below) seeing off the same Crow!