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Hawfinches, again

A quarter of an hour into the morning dog walk and today’s Hawfinch show begins. A scan of ivy-covered trees along the Klondike yields a single bird eating berries. I look down to check the dog isn’t up to mischief, look up again, and… no Hawfinch. The bird has melted away.

Still time for more sightings of them, though the eye is caught first by the flittingly arabesque passage of Long-tailed Tits along a hedgerow, and further down the path by a Marsh Harrier quartering the water meadows. By the river 16 Lapwings fly high to the south while below them three Oystercatchers hug the river as they fly noisily north. Winter taking hold again or ending; the signals are mixed.

 Moving onto the Millstream eight finches feeding in thick cover turn out to be Bullfinches, while a Song Thrush allows ludicrously close approach rather than yield territory to rivals bellowing contention. Chaffinches are singing along the path and Goldfinches moving constantly. But that is it for Hawfinches today, a poor showing by recent standards.

It’s likely the birds are around but haven’t been disturbed from wherever they’re feeding by people or raptors. The local Peregrines are often the reason for their appearance, while a few days back at least six birds hurtled over the Millstream with a female Sparrowhawk in pursuit. After she‘d gone some of the Hawfinches regrouped and perched watchfully at the top of the trees, giving good views. But not today.

Or not on the walk anyway. Over the past week the birds have come nearer to a line of trees viewable distantly from the top floor of the house. In the late morning one of the birds finally perches in the trees, a dot in the telescope incongruously erected in the study. Not exactly a garden tick, but for the true lister a worthy addition to the house list.

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