My top five birds. ( Hawfinch )
15th December 2012
If there is one bird that is high up on a birder's 'To See' list it's the Hawfinch, they are so shy and elusive and these days their numbers are much less than twenty years ago.
I have known birders that have not seen one after years of trying, this is because they are usually high up in the canopy or hidden away in the forest feeding discreetly in a pile of leaf litter. I remember being in this position myself, really wanting to see this secretive yet absolutely gorgeous bird. I used to bump into people over in the Forest Of Dean twenty years ago who said that they had seen flocks of up to eighty birds. I could hardly believe my ears, I only wanted one!
However, slowly but surely I got to see distant telescope views of birds, sometimes quite a few, up to twenty birds. This was not, however, enough for me, I wanted a photograph, I wanted to be close to these almost mythical forest dwellers.
The only way that a Hawfinch betrays its presence is by its call, a sharp 'PIX'. If you can imagine having a live electrical cable in your hand and then touching it on a piece of metal the sharp noise the current makes as it makes contact is what a Hawfinch's call is like. Their song is a very quiet and weak affair, barely recognisable unless you are up very close.
One day I was in a forest car park before first light trying to photograph a male bird that was coming down infrequently to feed on seed that was being left out by the forestry commission. After a few hours the bird dropped down from the canopy for about twenty seconds and I managed to shoot a few frames and I was very pleased that I had finally managed to get close to a Hawfinch. Fifteen minutes later a car pulled alongside me and a man got out and stood in front of me and announced he was 'here to photograph the Hawfinch', he then returned to his car and proceeded to talk quite loudly to his mate who was sat in the back seat. This conversation was carried out through the cars two open windows. I felt like telling him he had more chance of winning the lottery because these birds will not tolerate this type of disturbance. I left them to get on with it because I was confident no birds would come near.
The male Hawfinch is best viewed around mid to late March when they are showing more as they look for females and as they come into their breeding plumage their huge beaks turn from a straw colour to a superb silvery blue. They are at this time one of the UK's most beautiful birds!
A year or two later, one weekend in March we were walking through the forest and some birds took off from the leaf litter in front of us and we could see that they were Hawfinches. We backtracked and waited almost an hour until one or two birds came back down and we could see they were feeding on Beech mast. Next to this feeding area was a holly tree with a perfect hollowed out bowl underneath it where sheep had been sheltering, I immediately pictured my hide tucked in there. If you are in a hide and it's out in the open these birds will still not approach because it's something new and they are very wary of it.
The following day I was tucked away in this bowl before first light, it's no good setting up in daylight, they wont come near no matter how quiet you are. I waited for about two hours until I heard the first 'PIX', I was a bit concerned because time was getting on and people might come walking through and that would be the end of it.
Suddenly I could hear a faint song, I didn't recognize it but I now know it was a Hawfinch. I could hear scratching and I realised a bird was sitting on top of my hide, I could not move or make a sound, I was terrified of disturbing it whatever it was, I didn't know for sure what is was but I soon did as a beautiful male bird hopped onto the ground and flew about twenty feet in front of me to feed on the Beech mast and Cherry kernels. Thinking back if he had been any closer I couldn't have photographed him because the minimum focussing distance of the lens I was using was eighteen feet!
I was mesmerised by his beautiful plumage, I moved the lens an inch at a time until I locked on to him, then the shutter fired and I realised I had him. He just looked at me but I kept shooting and I knew I had some cracking shots! What a feeling that was, to be that close to such an elusive bird, then off he went and I didn't see him again. I waited for about another 30 minutes but he didn't return. Such an elusive creature, there and gone without anybody except me knowing, fabulous!
Then I could hear voices and four birders came walking along the track and stopped right beside me, ten feet away, I must have been well concealed because they didn't know I was there. I could hear one say 'looks like there's none here today, lets try somewhere else', I watched them go and packed up and left, if I had seen them later I would have told them about the possible birds where I had been, but they had left.
This exemplifies just how elusive these birds are and that is why they are in my top five birds.
Next blog...Dotterel
I have known birders that have not seen one after years of trying, this is because they are usually high up in the canopy or hidden away in the forest feeding discreetly in a pile of leaf litter. I remember being in this position myself, really wanting to see this secretive yet absolutely gorgeous bird. I used to bump into people over in the Forest Of Dean twenty years ago who said that they had seen flocks of up to eighty birds. I could hardly believe my ears, I only wanted one!
However, slowly but surely I got to see distant telescope views of birds, sometimes quite a few, up to twenty birds. This was not, however, enough for me, I wanted a photograph, I wanted to be close to these almost mythical forest dwellers.
The only way that a Hawfinch betrays its presence is by its call, a sharp 'PIX'. If you can imagine having a live electrical cable in your hand and then touching it on a piece of metal the sharp noise the current makes as it makes contact is what a Hawfinch's call is like. Their song is a very quiet and weak affair, barely recognisable unless you are up very close.
One day I was in a forest car park before first light trying to photograph a male bird that was coming down infrequently to feed on seed that was being left out by the forestry commission. After a few hours the bird dropped down from the canopy for about twenty seconds and I managed to shoot a few frames and I was very pleased that I had finally managed to get close to a Hawfinch. Fifteen minutes later a car pulled alongside me and a man got out and stood in front of me and announced he was 'here to photograph the Hawfinch', he then returned to his car and proceeded to talk quite loudly to his mate who was sat in the back seat. This conversation was carried out through the cars two open windows. I felt like telling him he had more chance of winning the lottery because these birds will not tolerate this type of disturbance. I left them to get on with it because I was confident no birds would come near.
The male Hawfinch is best viewed around mid to late March when they are showing more as they look for females and as they come into their breeding plumage their huge beaks turn from a straw colour to a superb silvery blue. They are at this time one of the UK's most beautiful birds!
A year or two later, one weekend in March we were walking through the forest and some birds took off from the leaf litter in front of us and we could see that they were Hawfinches. We backtracked and waited almost an hour until one or two birds came back down and we could see they were feeding on Beech mast. Next to this feeding area was a holly tree with a perfect hollowed out bowl underneath it where sheep had been sheltering, I immediately pictured my hide tucked in there. If you are in a hide and it's out in the open these birds will still not approach because it's something new and they are very wary of it.
The following day I was tucked away in this bowl before first light, it's no good setting up in daylight, they wont come near no matter how quiet you are. I waited for about two hours until I heard the first 'PIX', I was a bit concerned because time was getting on and people might come walking through and that would be the end of it.
Suddenly I could hear a faint song, I didn't recognize it but I now know it was a Hawfinch. I could hear scratching and I realised a bird was sitting on top of my hide, I could not move or make a sound, I was terrified of disturbing it whatever it was, I didn't know for sure what is was but I soon did as a beautiful male bird hopped onto the ground and flew about twenty feet in front of me to feed on the Beech mast and Cherry kernels. Thinking back if he had been any closer I couldn't have photographed him because the minimum focussing distance of the lens I was using was eighteen feet!
I was mesmerised by his beautiful plumage, I moved the lens an inch at a time until I locked on to him, then the shutter fired and I realised I had him. He just looked at me but I kept shooting and I knew I had some cracking shots! What a feeling that was, to be that close to such an elusive bird, then off he went and I didn't see him again. I waited for about another 30 minutes but he didn't return. Such an elusive creature, there and gone without anybody except me knowing, fabulous!
Then I could hear voices and four birders came walking along the track and stopped right beside me, ten feet away, I must have been well concealed because they didn't know I was there. I could hear one say 'looks like there's none here today, lets try somewhere else', I watched them go and packed up and left, if I had seen them later I would have told them about the possible birds where I had been, but they had left.
This exemplifies just how elusive these birds are and that is why they are in my top five birds.
Next blog...Dotterel