Blackwater Arboretum - 9th December

A clear afternoon. Highlights were Hawfinches and Bullfinch.

The weather today was forecast to be very wet with gales, so we were pleased that the weather calmed down in the afternoon.
We firstly had a walk around the Arboretum and saw a few Chaffinches, including two that let us get very close. As we walked up a path across the middle of the Arboretum a male Bullfinch appeared in a tree in front of us and the female was just behind, but we didn’t get good views of these. We also saw Robins and Blackbirds. We walked to the spot where it is best to see the Hawfinches and waited. It wasn’t long before we saw the first Hawfinch in the top of a high conifer. Over the next 45 minutes we saw several Hawfinches and a few more Chaffinch. We also saw a Nuthatch and one or two people saw a Treecreeper. A few Coal Tit called and some people saw a Goldcrest. The views of the Hawfinches were great, as usual and we must have seen about 30 altogether between 2.45 and 3.45pm.

Simon Curson