Yesterday we took a walk in the sun in valley above Cwm Ystwyth. The cold breeze seemed to have kept the birds at home as there was little about, a Coal Tit nosing about in fallen beech mast was the only one we saw. Turning round at the top of the hill by the clump of conifers we started down the hill . A dark "buzzard " flying strongly and directly across the rough field by the road caught my eye but just didn't look right. Through binoculars as it landed on a wall the noticeable thing alongside its large size and strong head was a prominent white patch on the flanks behind/under its wings and as it moved on up the hill it was definitely a very large muscular hawk not a harrier or buzzard. Now I have never knowingly seen a Goshaawk before but I was left with a clear impression that that was as it dived into the conifers.
Strangely enough the only other notable birds we saw as we drove back home to wards Aber were two separate Sparrowhawks flying along the road and then hopping over the hedge and into gardens in Devil's Bridge and near Pant-y-crug. These were clearly something different and more delicate than our earlier sighting.
Stephen Forster