A friend wanted to photograph the female Hawfinch at Wimpole Hall so last Thursday we organised the trip. A very busy weekend with family visitors prevented me from sorting out the images from the day any earlier.

This was my third visit and the Hawfinch seems to be getting rather wary - there were about 6 or 8 people there on and off throughout the morning and it showed only briefly on a couple of occasions in the deep shade before disappearing back into the Yew tree as soon as there was any unusual noise or movement.

After that and one of the renowned Wimpole 'sausage rolls', we headed for Fowlmere RSPB to see if the Hen Harrier was showing. Passing through the village of Barrington, there was a large flock of winter thrushes feeding on the football pitch by the side of the road - easy to just sit in the car and wait for them to approach and the sun was behind us - yes, you read that correctly - SUN!!!!

The flock was mainly Fieldfares mixed with the odd Mistle Thrush and Redwing but there was a nice plain background of shortish cut grass to add to the effectiveness of the images.

Then on to Fowlmere where the female Hen Harrier showed for a couple of seconds before diving into it's roost with no possibility of photographs and not showing again. The only showing of any note was a quartering Barn Owl in the distance over the reedbed.

 

Well, at least the failure of the Hen Harrier gives me the excuse to try again when the current poor weather improves.

More images from the day in the Recent Additions section of this website.