Goshawks .. The phantom of the forest !

Amidst the beautiful rolling countryside somewhere in Lancashire stands a large mature conifer plantation.
Planted over 20 years ago these Sitka spruce, Norway spruce, European larch and Scots pine trees stand twice as tall as a house.

Surrounded by farmland and open countryside the wildlife of this area is outstanding.My first visit was mid February and the weather was mild for the time of year. Still very cold but dry with clear skies.
Arriving around 8.30am we stood in a felled part of the forest where new saplings had been planted between the old stumps and disguarded logs.
Siskins and Chaffinch flitted between the trees in front of us and two Song thrush showed just to right for a brief few moments.

Two skylark flew over us and out of view whilst Curlew called from fields behind us. Around 10.30am we moved into a secluded corner of the lower woodland that gave us open views of the farm and a good view of the main part of forest. The only drawback was the limited views to our left. We didn't have to wait long until a raptor rose from the large conifers just to the right hand side of the area we were watching.
Similar to a Sparrowhawk but as large as a buzzard this raptor was huge and powerful. A female Goshawk was soaring higher and higher and slowly out of our view. We waited fourty minutes or so and from the same place another similar but smaller raptor appeared circling  over the trees climbing in height but staying in view. This was the smaller male he climbed and climbed until he became a dot even in my binoculars......suddenly he plumeted like a Peregrine, faster than anything i have ever wittnessed. He dived towards the tree tops pulling back upwards a few feet above the canopy, climbing again he was half the height again in a instance before diving again towards the same spot.Rising again he climbed less and flew above the forest giving us views of his pale underside.

At the same time the female rose from the exact same lacation flying upwards for a brief few moments before descending back into the same trees.
Over the next few visits I was lucky enough to have views of Green woodpecker ,Grey partridge, Bullfinch, Raven, Snipe,Lapwing, Woodcock,Fieldfare, Blue tit, Great tit, Coal tit, and Goldcrest also a white cock pheasant was unusal.