Keith Dickinson said:Don't know about hawfinch at Bretton....sadly Mather's book is well out of date and don't think that by buying a second edition you're getting an update 'cos you're not.
Got a Yorkshire birding article about Hawfinch in Yorks...i'll dig it out and post deytails if you want
bobwoodcock said:"Is Bretton still good for Hawfinch? "
Plenty of Hawfinch at Fountains Abbey/Studley royal,near the carpark, so the lads who congregate at Bolton abbey/Barden tower used to say anyway!!
jtw521 said:Up until the Yorkshire post dropped it's friday birding bit a couple of years ago they were reported there and clumber park most winters.
Sadly never seen one myself - well, not a complete one. About 30 odd years ago when I was young we were camping and I remember finding the head of a hawfinch on a path, beautiful it was. Seen dead birds with their heads nipped off by a fox but this was only the head!
Keith Dickinson said:jtw521....The YP has the birding column in the Saturday issue now.
Marcus...how long since you've seen hawfinch at Woodwell? I was talking to a local birder at Leighton Moss in Jan this year and he was saying that they'd been scarce to non-existant at Woodwell for a couple of years.
Keith Dickinson said:jtw521....The YP has the birding column in the Saturday issue now.
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bitterntwisted said:Is Bretton still good for Hawfinch? I read in Mather's "Where to Watch Birds" it was a good spot. Would love to see one of them. In Focus in Denby Dale have a picture on the wall of one coming to someone's garden feeder!
Hotspur said:Maybe more likely to be black-necked grebe this early on, inland as they breed (sparsely) across yorkshire whereas Slav Grebes breed in the Highlands. I could very well be wrong of course!
jtw521 said:I need a digiscope!! Popped down to Fairburn this afternoon - very quiet. There's been stacks of little grebe there for the last few weeks so I was checking them out one by one just in case when a faint trace of a yellow/orange cheek caught my eye. Getting my scope out I managed to lose sight of this one but picked up another with a lovely black cap and a nice straight black line down the back of it's neck. Managed to find the other one again and cheek flashes were disappearing into the moult. So, I'm immediately thinking Black necked grebes - reported it at the office as so but coming back and looking at the bookshelf and pictures on the net I'm thinking more Slavonian as the black cap didn't come down as far. Must take notes in future!!
Speaking as someone who has always gone birdwatching but in 30 odd years has never gone chasing rarer species I rarely see birds like this and consequently don't always recognise them (and perhaps lack the confidence to call them). So, I need a digiscope so I can take some piccies and identify at leisure but does this sound a likely spot in West Yorks at this time of year? Will probably be a moulting little grebe.
Oh! nearly forgot, they were on the flash near the car park to Spoonbill hide in case anyone is down there.