Hawfinches & Two-barred Crossbills!

Hawfinch, male, Lynford Arboretum, Norfolk

 

You know how it goes, just on your way home and you think "I'll just stop here and look around for a while". So there I was, on my way back from Ipswich, and the drag of the Two-barred Crossbills became too much. Parked the car and grabbed my gear, I had barely walked to the entrance when a strange trumpeting call made look up. Just in time to see 3 Two-barred Crossbills land in the top of the trees. There were two males and a female, one of the males was seen trying to mate with the female! She was having none of it and gave him the elbow.

Two other birders told me they were watching Hawfinches by the feeders at the south wall of the nearby garden. Normally the Hawfinches here are seen on the Hornbeams in the paddocks, I can't recall the last time I had seen one feeding on the floor. The birders said that they had seen six but I was very happy with the two, a male and a female. This little feeding station also gave up a male Brambling, male Lesser Redpoll, Treecreeper (strange to see them on a feeder) and Nuthatch.

 

Two-barred Crossbills, Lynford Arboretum, Norfolk

 

During my travels through Suffolk, earlier in the day, I found a total of 7 Stone Curlew at various places. While at Euston village, just south of Thetford, I had stopped to watch a Little Owl on a fence and a male Lesser Spotted Woodpecker appeared on the tree next to it. What a great day. I love my job!