Hawfinches are one of Britains scarcest birds and have been seen in mass numbers over the last two weeks due to an influx from Europe.While hurricane Ophelia was spinning anti-clockwise off the west coast of Europe,it was sucking a stream of warm air northwards towards Britain which has drawn the Hawfinches heading for their breeding grounds in Central Europe to the Mediterranean over to Britain.The irruption started in the southeast of England and numbers have now reached nearly 500 reports,as you can see from the graph below from Birdtrack.
Historically seeing a Hawfinch in Cheshire and Wirral is a very scarce spectacle even though birds are reported annually they are usually single observer sightings that are flyovers never to been seen again.The last Hawfinch that most Cheshire and Wirral birders connected with was the long staying bird at Marbury Country park in January 2009.
THIS BIRD WAS PRESENT AROUND MARBURY PARK UNTIL EARLY MARCH
(C)P.WOOLLEN
The first sighting of our counties influx was seen on the morning of the 14th October at Bidston Moss nature reserve on the Wirral by Elliot Montieth,which again was a flyover bird.As the days went by other sightings were recorded in the county as the map shows below.
26 HAWFINCHES HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN CHESHIRE AND WIRRAL SINCE THE 14TH OCTOBER
With all the sightings of Hawfinches being flyover birds,news broke on sunday that five birds had been found around a churchyard at St Oswald's in Brereton.I couldn't make it to see the birds on sunday but I did connect with them today.
PHOTOS BY MALC CURTIN
AND PHIL LOCKER
