The hawk that goes to work in H Downs and Sons' foundry

Oct 26 2009 By Neil Atkinson

MEET Saxon – the lean, mean hunting machine.

Tim Smith’s American red-tailed hawk is one of nature’s killers, swooping out of the sky to feed on small mammals and birds.

But Saxon is also a regular feature at the Huddersfield foundry where Tim works; so much so, that he turns up for work every day.

Saxon, whose Latin name is Buteo jamaicensis, is a member of the buzzard family and is a bird widely used in falconry.

Tim, 45, has had Saxon for a little over two years and the bird joins him every day on his drive to work at H Downs and Sons’ foundry in Leeds Road.

He will happily sit for hours on a specially-made perch in the foundry yard while Tim works as foundry manager, a job he has done for five years.

But come lunchtimes, the pair can be found across the road on the Syngenta Sports Club playing fields, where Saxon gets his exercise.