Breckland Birder

Breckland Birder
Red Deer in Breckland, Norfolk Photo by Paul Newport

Saturday 13 January 2018

Hawfinches near Norwich, Norfolk

Today was the first day of three consecutive weekends of working with little time for any good birding, therefore it is my intention of putting my afternoon breaks to good use by visiting a variety of random sites for an hour or so of short bursts of serious birding.
This afternoon I parked up in the Yare valley near Norwich.  Following lunch and a coffee, I decided to check an area of parkland trees.  Movement was detected high in the canopy of a few trees, I trained my binoculars and found a Hawfinch, this eventually increased to four birds, however, the true number became apparent when a flock of 8 Hawfinches flew almost directly above me and then off west.
The individuals seen high in the canopy showed off their pinkish colour, strong, pale bill, and the neat black chin patch.  In flight, the magnificent white wing-bar was clearly seen on the outstretched wings.  When all 8 Hawfinches flew off west the 'top-heavy' (head area), and large white wing-bar was seen.  The flight was powerful, direct, although slightly undulating.  Light was always poor throughout this special find.

Also noted in the area was Stock Dove (pair), Nuthatch, Goldcrest, Jay, Blackbird, and a small flock of Redwings.

No comments:

Post a Comment