With its subtle mix of colours and enormous bill, the Hawfinch is unmistakable
Despite being a cold
and unsettled period of the year with shorter daytime hours the winter can
provide the avid naturalist with much to enthuse. Ordinarily, vast flocks of
geese and wildfowl provide an over awing spectacle on the grazing marshes of
the reserve yet at present our numbers seem well down on past years, a
reflection of the mild autumn and early winter. There is however plenty of
other sights to keep the enthusiasm levels up. One very elusive species in
particular, the Hawfinch, is worthy of note at Holkham and I have been lucky
enough to encounter it whilst doing routine work out and about on the reserve.
The
Hawfinch is the UK’s largest finch and it is instantly recognisable due to its
large conical beak. This is an amazing adaption that allows it to crush the
seeds of beech, hornbeam, yew and even cherry stones. Special muscles surround
its skull that enables it to use extreme pressure when crushing these very hard
seeds. It has been estimated that it is capable of exerting the equivalent of 68
kg of pressure per square inch with its bill! Even its scientific name Coccothraustes coccothraustes, means ‘one
who can break open kernels’. Not only is it a front heavy looking bird but it
is a subtle yet pleasing mixture of orange (on its head), varying browns and
greys and very odd looking shaped wing feathers. Small iridescent blue/black
triangles form on the feather tips which are splayed out during the male’s
intricate display ‘dance’. All in all it is a subtle yet quite exotic looking
bird. What makes the Hawfinch even more special is that is usually incredibly
elusive. Despite its size and looks it feeds unobtrusively either in the canopy
of trees or on the ground. It always remains ever alert and fit to disappear at
the slightest disturbance. Such behaviour makes any sighting all the more
fortunate.
The Hawfinch is unique amongst British birds for having strange shaped primary wing feathers
Holkham has quite a
long history with Hawfinches. When I was growing up on the Estate in the late
1970s and early 1980s the trees just inside the main gates were the best place in Norfolk for seeing them. Here
they fed in the winter on fallen hornbeam seeds before moving around the Park
in the spring ready to nest. Open parkland or large country gardens with a mix
of deciduous trees (including plenty of beech and cherry) make the ideal
habitat and in the past the grounds of both the Hall itself and the Walled
Garden were nesting sites. Like so many of our song birds, a decline has been
noted all across the UK and it is now a very scarce bird. Up to 75% of the
breeding population has gone within a 40 year period. Declines have been blamed
in part to dropping insect numbers (caterpillars are the main food of the
young) and also the vulnerability of their frail open nest sites to predators
such as Grey Squirrels and bird such as Jays and Magpies.
A freshly fledged juvenile; not a sight often seen.
At Holkham my past is
littered with great Hawfinch moments. My old departed Uncle who was gardener at
Quarles Farm after the Second World War told me with great sadness how he had
found a freshly dead one on the lawn close to the vegetable patch. He suspected
it had been after his prize peas (another known food source from when they were
more numerous) and been attacked by a Sparrowhawk as it was departing. I was
once very fortunate in witnessing a male display to a female prior to
copulation. This involved a spectacular courtship ritual/dance with head held skywards,
wings stretched out as he wandered around dipping and bowing in front of his
mate. It was one of those once in a life time moments that I had read about in
a book, yet never expected to see. I suppose however the ultimate find was
discovering a nest, complete with two fledglings in the cleft of a Holm Oak
tree close to the Walled Garden. The next day they had fledged and were sitting
on a branch awaiting their parents with food. Sadly since the new millennium
Hawfinches have all but disappeared from Holkham Park until recent times.
Juveniles have a more yellow look to their faces
This autumn we were working in the Dell within Wells Pinewoods, raking up grass we had cut when a
familiar explosive almost metallic ticking call cut through the air. It was a
Hawfinch and it flew right over our heads, its white wing bars illuminating its
striking bounding flight. A moment to cherish but one that was not in isolation
as this autumn saw a tremendous influx into England of migrant Hawfinches from
the Continent. Flocks and odd ones and twos were reported far and wide as a
result some have said of poor food availability in Eastern Europe and storms
over Europe that pushed the wandering finches our way. It is hoped that such an
invasion will allow our native breeding population to re-establish itself and perhaps
we might even see this elusive bird start to nest again within the grounds of
the Estate. We certainly have currently got a regular pair back in their old
haunts just inside the main gates, feeding under the same hornbeams and in the
same yew tree that I saw my first ever ones in over 35 years ago.
Andy Bloomfield
Warden
Thanks to Roger Tidman for his spectacular images.