photography

I spent the day at Leeds Wildlife Photography Hide in Methley, West Yorkshire. This is the second trip so far this year, and I have another visit booked in for April with my father.

I’ve also been six times over the last two years. The hide is run by Ian, and he is very helpful and knowledgeable about the birds that visit the site. The prices are very reasonable as well.

Quick Overview

📍 Location: Leeds West Yorkshire
🌿 Habitat Type: Woodland
🎯 Target Species: Birds
📅 Best Season: All year round
🕒 Best Time of Day: All day
💰 Cost: £60 – £135
📅 Booking Required: Yes
👥 Max Photographers: 3

Optional:
🔗 Website: https://www.leedswildlife.co.uk/

What Makes This Hide Unique?

The hide at Leeds is well set up, comfortable and has a wide selection of wildlife that visit all year around. The hide has one way glass so the birds can’t see the photographers.

The hide can seat 3 people with plenty of room for your gear and lunch bags. Gimbal heads and bases are provided for all three spaces. The seats are very comfortable and adjustable.

The hide is located in Methley Leeds which is not far from the M62 and M1. Access is really good and gravelled.

Setup & Shooting Conditions

Distance to Subjects

Minimum focal length: 200mm
Ideal focal length: 400mm (600mm for closeups)
Are birds predictable or erratic? The birds are predictable due to the food setup that Ian has perfected over the years.

Background Quality

Clean / natural / busy? As you can see from my shots, the background creates a good Bokeh affect throughout the year. Colour changes as the background foliage changes with the seasons.
Artificial perches? The perches are made from branches and look realistic in the shots.

Species You Can Expect

Regular Sightings

Sparrowhawk
Kestrel
Jay
Plenty of the usual British song birds all year round

Seasonal Highlights

Goldcrest, Cuckoo during spring

My Experience

What surprised you?
The amount of species that the hide attracts through the year.
What frustrated you?
There isn’t much that has frustrated me on my various visits.
Did the activity match expectations? Yes there is plenty of activity with the smaller birds all day long throughout the year. Even in poor weather there are plenty of visits. The raptors still make an appearance, but as with ay hide, wildlife is unpredictable. Even on this visit (07/03/2026) I still got 2 visits each from the Sparrowhawk and Kestrel and they stayed a good length of time.
Was it worth the price?
Yes well worth the price. I paid £65 for the full day (0730-1530).

Camera Settings & Gear I Used

Body: Nikon Z8
Lens: Nikon Nikkor 180-600mm
Support (tripod/beanbag): Gimbal head & base provided

Typical Settings I use:

Shutter speed: Varies depending on static or flight shots
Aperture: F8
ISO range: 1250

Who Is This Hide Best For?

✔ Beginners
✔ Advanced wildlife photographers
✔ Behaviour shooters
✔People wanting flight photography
✖ Landscape photographers
✖ Portrait shooters

Tips If You’re Visiting

Arrive 10-15 minutes early to get yourself setup while Ian does the feed up.
Bring camera & lenses, spare batteries, warm clothes for winter, food and drinks.
Avoid being too loud, leaving when the raptors are in the hide.
Check start times on the email you receive the day before arrival.

Final Verdict – Would I Return?

Is it worth the money?
Yes well worth the money Ian charges. See website for more information on prices.
Is it worth travelling for?
Yes, I am local as this is only a short 40 minute car ride away from me. However there are plenty of hotels around.
Would you recommend it?
Yes, and I have several times.

I have a fairly cool cat (or if you ask the wife ‘bat shit crazy cat’, or the daughter ‘a bumhole cat!’) named Ernest. He is almost 3 years old now and took on the traits of our old Border Terrier, Rohan (who sadly is no longer with us) so he acts more dog than cat!!

I wanted to try some photos of Ernest close up to get his face and tongue and maybe a paw reaching for his chicken flavour Webbox Lick-e-Lix, this is in the style of @furryfritz Nils Jacobi who I follow on Instagram and some of his fantastic work with cats. I’m a long way from his following this first practice effort!

So I tried, with the daughters help (@kittyredreads) putting some chicken flavour lick-e-lix onto my new Godox Ring72 macro ring light in the hope he would come towards the camera and try to lick the paste off.

Then I tried the hole in a box hoping he would stick his head and arm through to get the lick-e-lix. However his brain cell was occupied this afternoon and it didn’t really work!!

Godox Ring72

The Godox RING72 Macro Ring Light is a compact, versatile, and lens-mountable LED Macro Ring Light designed to meet the needs of photographers and videographers specializing in close-up work. With 8 watts of power and a daylight-balanced color temperature of 5600K, the RING72 delivers soft, glowing, on-axis lighting, eliminating harsh shadows and ensuring every detail is illuminated with precision.

Ideal for photographing small subjects such as jewelry, insects, and flowers, the RING72 is also well-suited for professionals in medical or forensic fields, such as dentists or pathologists, who require accurate and well-lit close-up images.

The Godox Ring72 light has worked well with my Nikon Z8, I have some more practice to with it and the cat photos. It will also be good to use with my lightbox and some macro focus stacking pictures when the summer flowers are in bloom.

From this little photo shoot I can tell already the things I need to improve on.
– Use one of my photo backgrounds as this will help pick the cat out more with the Godox Ring72 light and there is a lot of cclutter in the kitchen.
– Decide which lens will be better for the cat shoots. My Tamron 90mm was too long sat at my kitchen table, my Viltrox 35mm wasn’t fast enough focus, so I switched to my Nikon 24-50mm which was fast enough focus (I went up to 10fps) and it was close enough on my table.
– Play with more back light to see if this improves the shot.
– Get the cat to cooperate more, which is probably the hard part! Although with more practice and Lick-e-Lix he might improve.

Here are some of the best shots that I’ve done with some light editing to in Lightroom.