A wonderful Sighting of a Sparrow Hawk in North Leeds

I live with my family in a leafy part of Leeds in the North of the city and whilst our garden is not big, it benefits from being split into a front and back garden with shrubs, pine trees and sycamore trees and plenty of options to feed the various variety of birds we seem to attract.

I do not believe the previous occupiers of the house ever fed our feathered friends, but I would say we attract five times more birds than when we first moved in. We attract Robins, Wrens, Wood Pigeons, Blue Tits, Collared Doves, Long Tailed Tits, Magpies, the odd Sparrow and Swallows when nesting in the summer.

In February this year (and it was a rare sighting) my wife saw a Sparrow Hawk swoop into the back garden and attack another bird and take off with it. It happened so quickly, she could not actually identify the other bird, however managed to take a photo as it was struggling to get its grip. The photo is not entirely clear but you can just identify the bird of prey taking off with its victim.

We generally put out Suet Pellets, Mixed Seed, Fat balls, Fat Candles, Fat Feasts and Meal Worms as well as a regular replacement of fresh water. As time passes, the bird food is consumed over a shorter period, as the number of birds visiting increase in both numbers and in species. We are looking at getting a bird bath shortly which will complete our contributions to the garden activity that we currently enjoy.

- Simon