Rare Finches!

-

 Rare Finches!

We arrived at 7:30am in hopes of seeing a rare, large finch, that I've never witnessed before. We went towards the viewing deck in front of the café, where we met a ranger named Rob. We were in luck as he said he did Hawfinch watches here at Sizergh castle. We could hear the Hawfinches, yet couldn't see them. A few minutes later, Rob let us look through his scope, pointed at a male Hawfinch feeding underneath a Hornbeam Tree. It continued to feed on the seeds and then flew off. A first for me. He then showed us a female just behind a small bump feeding. Their beaks were phenomenal, such a unique looking bird. Eurasian Nuthatches, Song Thrushes, European Greenfinches and Great Tits were also around. He then pointed the scope at another two males and one female in a tree until they flew off. The Hawfinches were stunning and in abundance. Rob could see my love for birding and it was obvious we needed guidance. He agreed to be my mentor and gave us his email. He also gave us some much needed advice. He took my top ten wanted species and promised to do all he could, to help me see more birds. Overall, an excellent morning birding.





Location: 76MG+8C Kendal, UK

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cumbria Crack!

-
Image
Cumbria Crack! We arrived at Sizergh Castle at first light in hopes of seeing Hawfinches. We parked on the left side of the car park, and walked over to the veranda. There were a number of birders lined up. We approached them and met Joe and Steve, who kindly pointed out two showy male Hawfinches  less than 40m away. We also saw a female Hawfinch. I managed to get a record shot of both of them, before heading over to the River Kent for Dipper.  Image from @RobsBirding, not same bird We arrived at the River Kent at 8:00am.  As soon as we arrived, we set up the scope along the bank of the river, since the bridge was shut, and on the first scan, I managed to the see the Dipper  bathing, however I wasn't quick enough for a photo. We stayed for an hour, seeing the Dipper  a few more times, however I wasn't quick enough for a record shot. Satisfied with our views and eager for a lifer, we set off on the hunt for the reported Richard's Pipit.  We arrived in Ulvers...
Read more

Dragonfly Hunt!

-
Image
Dragonfly Hunt! We arrived at 10:30am to meet the kind Eddie Urbanski in order for him to tour us round his patch. Once we arrived had arrived at his patch, which was Cors Geirch NNR, the first thing I spotted was a Painted Lady , followed by a moth which Kevin (Eddie's friend) identified as a Straw Dot . We then started wading through a marshy bit of the site and almost immediately, Eddie pointed out a male Keeled Skimmer . Unfortunately, it flew away instead of landing for a record shot, but little did I know, that this would be one of many to be seen that day. We continued walking through the marsh when Kevin said he had a Bog Hoverfly. I searched the area he saw it in and spotted a male Keeled Skimmer sitting right in front of me, waiting to be photographed. We then walked through a dryer area of the wetland where Kevin pointed out a Bog Hoverfly ( Sericomyia Silentis )   nectaring right besides us, allowing for a perfect record shot. We then started searching the pony dung in ...
Read more

The Only Way Was Essex

-
Image
The Only Way Was Essex Image by Kristian Wade We set off at 2.00am and took Carl and Kristian with us. We arrived at Heybridge at around 7:00am. We walked towards a silhouette of birders all crowded round the sluice. I managed to squeeze through the crowd and get a front row seat. I waited patiently with the others in absolute silence. Suddenly, the bird came into view. At first, I couldn't spot it, but thankfully a kind man helped me get onto the Northern Waterthrush . I was delighted with my   point blank views of. Unfortunately my camera wasn't choosing to work at this golden moment. I also didn't have my scope on me, so I was unable to get any images of the bird. Nevertheless, I managed to get amazing views of the bird at close range. Satisfied with our views, we then headed off to Abberton Reservoir. We arrived at Abberton at around 9.00aam. We scanned both sides of Layer Breton Causeway first, seeing a few Egyptian Geese , Shoveler & Goldeneye , but not much else....
Read more