It’s Important To Make Time For Hobbies

I know that there are several planes that have been named after birds or other airborne creatures. It stands to reason really, having flight in common. Harriers for example or the Tiger Moth. Actually I couldn’t think of any others, but I’ve always imagined there are lots. A bit of research turned up The Sopwith Snipe, a not very fierce sounding WWI biplane. But watching a hobby in flight it seemed some nimble jet fighter should have been named after this highly-skilled bird of prey.
I watched it above Rutland Water on a brief sortie, it flew across my field of vision, left to right, with purposeful, strong wing beats, and gradually gained height, on a determined mission. It was some distance away by the time it had reached its desired altitude and I had to follow it carefully with my binoculars, a black silhouette against white and pale grey clouds. It was out on its own and then, I saw it among smaller dots, hirundines, in this case, sand martins. It seemed to select one perhaps at random, but once it set its sights it darted with an impressive turn of speed, somewhere between a fighter plane and a guided missile. The brief aerial encounter resembled a dog fight with both birds deftly performing aerobatics, the hobby in pursuit, the martin desperate for escape. The duel was brief, there must have been something in the martin’s agility that told the hobby it was not going to be successful this time, maybe it had been spotted too early and the element of surprise was lost. The raptor recognised that there was no point in wasting energy and turned and glided with hunched shoulders and outstretched wings, on an even descending trajectory as if approaching a landing strip, and drifted out of sight amongst a stand of trees.
The whole episode lasted probably a minute, maybe 30 seconds more, but put me in awe of these spectacular birds that choose some of the most challenging prey, a battle for survival that continues through the winter as both hunter and quarry migrate from Europe to Africa. More commonly I have seen the hobby sweeping across bodies of water, catching dragonflies in its talons and lifting them to its beak, to be eaten mid-flight. The purpose and the execution of the hunt was almost militaristic and even if on this occasion it was unsuccessful, a bird with such aerial confidence is a formidable threat to the insects and birds it seeks out.