18th November - Up Marden, West Sussex

At the weekend there was a report of up to eight Hawfinch in St Michaels church yard in Up Marden a small village in the South Downs between Petersfield and Chichester.  There have been a lot of Hawfinch reports this winter with reports of an influx from the continent.  However the sightings have mostly been of flyover birds with very few hanging around.  The one place in Hampshire where they are well known is Mercer Way in Romsey, but as of yet no reported sightings there.

So, having seen some of the photographs from Up Marden I decided to give it a try today.  It was about a forty minute ride across the border into West Sussex, with a very narrow road as I approached the village.  I found the church, parked and then started to look for the birds.  There was another photographer present, but hadn't seen the Hawfinches so far.

From the photographs it seemed that hey were feeding on Yew berries.  There were plenty of Yew trees about, but I couldn't see any berries on any of them.  I walked around moving from the churchyard to the road, checking the tops of the Ash trees.  A Great Spotted Woodpecker was calling from the Ash trees.

There were plenty of smaller finches about, Chaffinches, Goldfinches and Greenfinches.  All looked big enough at the top of the trees but when you investigated closer, they were not the hoped for Hawfinch.

A Song Thrush put in an appearance, raising the heart beat a little.

There was also a Mistle Thrush around the churchyard and several Redwing flew over.  Walking along the road there was a Goldcrest and Firecrest together in the Yew trees, both calling.

I walked back to the church once again and picked up a bird distantly at the top of an Ash.  Zooming in, at last, I had a Hawfinch if only a little way away.

I then picked up another two flying into the top of a tree that was slightly closer.

I walked back to the tree to try and get better views, but then lost them again.  I waited but nothing showed, so I walked back to the church once more.  A Nuthatch was calling in a Holly Tree and I played some of the "Chit Chit" call to get its attention.

This seemed to get the attention of other birds too, both Blue and Great Tits appeared as did a Marsh Tit, and then from nowhere a Hawfinch flew over my head and settled in a the top of a tree just behind the church.

An added bonus it was a male showing off the lovely black markings around the bill and throat.

Then it was gone.  Whilst I was happy I waited to see if any other s would show.  One did, but again it was distant in the Ash trees once again.

It was starting to rain so I decided to quit and head home.  Whilst I did not get the pictures in the Yew tree aI was more than happy with the ones I did manage to get, some of the best of Hawfinch for sometime