When I was a child, I was fascinated with raptors. Unfortunately in East Hants at the time I never saw anything other than the ubiquitous hovering kestrel. Never saw a sparrowhawk until well into my thirties. Going to Scotland to the Highlands on holidays was a thrill with loads of buzzards hanging out on fenceposts and even the odd eagle.

When we lived in Bavaria it was thrilling to see so many different raptors when on a walk (even in our small town) or driving. I was surprised how often we would see sparrowhawks either circling overhead or doing surprise attacks in the housing estate. Once I saw a male follow a gutter line of a long terrace with the aim of hunting unexpectedly round the corner. Once we were having dinner on our terrace on a summer evening. We were surpised as a sparrowhawk flew over with a blackbird (or similar sized bird) in its talons.

Since returning to the UK I was delighted to see how raptors have recovered. In our Hampshire town it is not uncommon to see a soaring sparrowhawk or buzzard over the town. Once or twice even a red kite.

Yesterday my youngest son called me to the kitchen very excited. He had been standing at the back door when a raptor crashed into the window then perched (presumably seeing stars) on a garden chair. It had flown off before I arrived. He described its distinctive yellow eyes and identified it in the birdbook as a sparrowhawk. Two years earlier I was talking to a neighbour over the hedge when 10 metres away a sparrowhawk - obviously a young and inexperienced one - landed on the hedge for about half a minute before flying off.

Today I was in my office in Reading. I had a meeting in a colleague's office and there was a view to the Madejski football stadium behind her. I suddenly realised there was a red kit soaring over the stadium. I have occasionally seen red kites over the North Hampshire Downs for some years and in recent years between Basingstoke and Reading. But this was my first sighting over urban Reading.