Hawfinch, St Andrew Church Bramfield

With Brian heading back down to Thetford this morning in search of the Otters. We decide to stay local and  head for Bramfield in Hertfordshire.

Still needing Hawfinch for my year list and with this area proving productive for this species just before Christmas, we decide to make the 22 mile trip up the A10 and head for ST Andrew Church.

Parking the car just past the church and walking back to the church gates two Hawfinch are spotted immediately. Both are perched in a tree across the road in the Old Rectory gardens.

Photo taken on previous visit

They remain there for around 10-15 minutes and allow great scope views, with plenty of calling and preening taking place.

Allowing a local dog walker to take a look through the scope at the birds, we lose sight of the them as we turn to talk to him and they disappear from view.

It's another 30-40 minutes before another sighting, with a steady flow of birders arriving during this time. I pick up another two birds perched behind the large fir trees again in the Old Rectory gardens. Then a single bird flies across the road and lands briefly in the tall trees in the church grounds before flying back towards the Old Rectory grounds.A brief walk through the church grounds adds Yellowhammer, with three individuals seen in the scrub along the North Western edge of the church.Two Nuthatch are also seen one in the church grounds and one in the trees in the Old Rectory garden, along with Coal Tit and Siskin.