SIX weeks ago I bought a new bird table. We have always had a feeding station close to the back kitchen window, but recently it became a fine dining area for a number of uninvited guests.

One of whom was actually feasting on my birds. And not always with a degree of discrimination as to how it judged its table manners.

This particularly unwelcome guest at the table was a sparrow hawk. These birds can actually slam into windows in their desire to take prey. Apparently they achieve diving speeds of over 100mph and can spot their prey 100ft above ground.

My little guests were too vulnerable at the feeding station I had provided as it offered no cover for them to approach or take refuge.

I might not like the hawk taking my birds, but it has to be accepted that nature is red in tooth and claw and better to put the table in a less vulnerable area for my guests.

The other consideration was how to defeat the squirrels. Not only are they now in competition for the walnuts, but also for the bird food on offer, especially the peanuts.

Although John has harvested all of the walnuts accessible to him and they are drying out in our grain store, Millie, our Jack Russell, remains on guard for those squirrels who are chancing a run to the tree in the hope of gathering walnuts from the very top branches.

So spotting an offer for an elegant feeding station, with numerous cages for nuts, grain, mealworms and fat balls, I paid up.

John positioned it close to the garden hedge so that little birds can take cover before they approach and leave the feeders. And the thin metal pole that the feeders are suspended from, offers the squirrels no grip.

Success. So far John has counted 12 different species of birds feeding at the station, including four types of tits, three species of finches, a spotted woodpecker, sparrows, a dove and wood pigeons. And it doesn’t include a sparrow hawk.

I am worried about the wood pigeons that hoover up all the debris under the table. They are too big and heavy to cling to the cages like my blue tits or chaffinches, or to perch and delicately lift a mealworm from a tray as the robin does.

And if Mr Hawk is missing his lunchtime snacks, a pigeon would make a very substantial dinner. But so far not a glimpse of any predators.

Perhaps they have moved onto easier prey.