Tuesday 21st December 2021
Bedgebury Pinetum
Kent
Martin wanted to go to Bedgebury to check out the site for hawfinches. He has fond memories from a visit he made years ago. Recent advice form the Kent Ornithological Society indicated that the situation has radically changed and numbers have since plummeted. However we did get a reported sighting yesterday so off we went. David, also a great fan of Bedgebury, gave us a map showing his last hawfinch sighting a few years ago.
- For a long time we saw absolutely nothing . Then, just on 15.00 hr as we were about to give up, Martin spotted one in a nearby conifer. It was showing really well on an exposed branch. We enjoyed lovely views for around 10 minutes before it flew away. The image shown is an actual photograph and not a digiscoped image as in my previous posts, illustrating just how close we got to this magnificent bird.
The closest I have ever been to this bird was at Sizergh Castle in Cumbria with Brian in March 2015 when the birds were feeding on the ground a few metres from us. Unfortunately we didn't have a camera with us that day.
Only a single bird today but what a view!
Wednesday 22 December 2021
Heathfield with David
I joined David at the Heathfield site after lunch today, arriving just before 14.00. He was watching 6 hawfinches as I arrived but by the time I had set up my scope they had all gone!
We waited and waited but it was beginning to look like they would not return. Then just around 15.50 I spotted 3 of them in the tall deciduous tree straight out from us. Five minutes later they were joined by another 3, all 6 showing really well in the canopy. Then we settled back to enjoy 30 minutes of uninterrupted viewing until 4 of them dropped down to the thicker foliage, presumably to go to roost. The other 2 took flight, one flying right and the last one going to the right.
This is turning out to be my best ever year for sightings of Hawfinches!
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