This is the amazing moment a sparrowhawk swooped in and took a morning bath after a long day of hunting squirrels.

Sean Weekly, 30, from Builth Wells, lay in waiting for ten hours in a photography hide in the hope of capturing a glimpse of some of the amazing wildlife in the Netherlands.

He carefully positioned himself in front of a body of water which was used as a fresh drinking watering hole by the animals in the neighbouring woods.

To his amazement, a female sparrowhawk plonked itself directly in front of him and had a luxurious five-minute bath.

Sean said: "I spent ten hours in the photography hide with the main species being red squirrels.

"I saw the sparrowhawk fly past at high speed quite a few times- most likely trying to get an easy meal.

"At one time, it swooped in trying to get a squirrel but annoyingly this happened just out of sight. The squirrel escaped unharmed.

"I was hoping that she would come down in front of the hide but these things do not happen often.

"Just before I decided I was going to pack up and head home, the female sparrowhawk literally flew in and landed just metres in front of me into the water. I had such a rush of excitement!

"I slowly moved my camera and I finally got a few pictures. She then started to bath for quite some time! She was there for almost five minutes and gave me the opportunity to get quite a few photos!

"Birds bath regularly often to rid them selves of dust and mites."

Sean, who has been a professional photographer for over five years, said the moment was rare to capture because birds of prey are fully aware of their surroundings.

He added: "I was behind camouflage netting and well out of sight from the the animals, however birds, especially birds of prey, are very aware of their surroundings hence getting images like this are fairly rare.

"I was very pleased with the outcome of this encounter not just getting a great series of images but just to experience being that close to a wild sparrowhawk was quite something!

"I photograph wildlife in general but yes do photograph birds quite a bit."