Elusive birds, id conundrums

Spent some time today in the Aeron valley hoping for Green or Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, but for me at least, they remain very elusive, if indeed either is still present in that area. My other objective was to watch displaying raptors. Saw four hawks though none looked like Goshawk. Two small birds, grey above, I saw from a distance. One was chasing the other vigourously, and were I presume male Sparrowhawks. Moments later a larger bird, brown above, appeared much nearer. It flew around a little then plunged into a spectacular dive in to the forest before shooting rapidly upwards again, joined by a second bird. These two looked very similar in colouration and size. They soared leisurely together for several minutes, eventually reaching a great height. They looked like female Sparrowhawks to me. But is that normal? Two females together. Do last years juveniles sometimes hang around? Does anyone have any idea about that?