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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Elusive Hawfinch (1 Viewer)

Wryneck

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Has anybody got any tips or advice on hunting down hawfinches?

They've been spotted twice (according to my daily birdcall e-mails) about a five minute walk away from home. The spot is right by a noisy, busy roundabout on the fringes of Chester which makes me think I'm wasting my time loitering around at dusk straight after work with commuters going home and what have you.

Will this shy species have flown off somewhere quieter?

Am I better off waiting until dawn at a weekend? Apart from the stated yew trees is there any other tree I should be looking at.

They're on my bird-watching patch and I'm simply desperate to spot them !!!!!
 
Hi wryneck,

Locally in woods I have seen then in Beech and Birch trees, 8 of them in a little flock. I've also seen one on it's own in a wooded alleyway on two occasions, both times in oak trees.

I'm no expert on them, but have been very lucky. BTW when I saw the solitary one it was at about 9.30am and the 8 in the woods at about midday.
 
The same happened to me last week, after seeing they were spotted about 10 miles away, I thought I would give it a try. We must have looked in every tree in this small village,but to no avail.

The only good thing to come out of it is that I spotted my first ever Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (trouble was I did not get my camera out in time to capture the occassion.)

So again any Hawfinch hunting tips would be much appreciated.
 
My first ever Hawfinch was in the Lynford Arboretum in Norfolk. We had all been looking along the tops of the trees for ages when someone spotted a movement under a bit of a tunnel created by a hole in a bush. It was a Hawfinch busily going through the leaf litter. Since then I have been aware that in the trees isn't the only place to look.
 
Hi Wryneck(nice birds,Wrynecks!;-)),
I would definitely recommend visiting the area early in the morning,as they may well be easier to come by before things get too busy.
Harry
 
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