The Colony

Red hawk or kite would be my guess. Blown in courtesy of Kathleen, probably. Red kite | The Wildlife Trusts. Not to blow your mind but many NA view these birds as guides that mark changes in your life and tell you you are going in the right direction.

I figured out it might be an omen Hopefully that one!!!

I'm glad Pam answered that before I had the chance. I'd have said "it's a bird", and then I'd have looked very stupid.

Is it just me, or does it look like a composite bird, with the small head of one stuck backwards on the large body of another?

Yes. I think it’s a young one. As as PJ said, it’s probably been through quite a storm, looking bedraggled.
It had killed a – snack – before I arrived. It just sat there, picking away at entrails, for about ten minutes, while we looked at each other. Not frightened at all.

You might be interested to know they only count as messenger/guides if they are on the ground or sitting on a post or rock. It doesn't count to hear one or see them. I Love their piercing cries-tho I grew up knowing them as "chickenhawks" and that cry means death knell for... snacks.
When we moved back to the US from HK I passed one on almost every fencepost on the road from Dallas Ft Worth airport to Kansas. I'd never seen so many. In Switzerland they nested in the extremely tall fir trees around the horse pens and had aerial battles with crows. Probably over considering crow babies to be snacks. They do exist in Wexford, but I hear them rarely. HMMM. We did find a young peregrine falcon on our door one spring. And kestrels regularly visit. Juerg puts food out so I suspect they regard his subjects as fair game. So to speak.

Not sure, but it may well be a lesser spotted flingle warbler.

I'm no expert but I think I've found it.

"It had killed a – snack – before I arrived. It just sat there, picking away at entrails, for about ten minutes, while we looked at each other. Not frightened at all."

Maybe it was thinking... "Walk away pal, or you're next."

Birds freak me out. Big ones even more so.

Maybe it was thinking... "Walk away pal, or you're next."

I got that vibe, yes. I suspect she thought I might have wanted entrails. And she definitely wasn’t going to share. I approached on tiptoe first, but there was no need, this bird wasn’t going anywhere until entrails had been scoffed.