Llanbedr-y-cennin

Hawfinch 4 (Llanbedr-y-cennin)
Short-eared Owl 9 (Parkgate marsh)
Hen Harrier 1 (female, Parkgate marsh)
Merlin 1 (Parkgate marsh)

I'd been thinking about going for the Hawfinches in Conwy for several days, and today seemed the ideal opportunity. I was on the road at 7:30am, driving in the dark and through freezing fog, but at least the roads were empty. Not many other fools were heading for North Wales at that time on this New Years Day. For many miles I was driving through a dark, misty and frozen landscape, with the frost so heavy that it looked like it had snowed all night. I passed Holywell and still there was no let up in the murk, until at last, as I reached the top of the Clwydian ridge, the road turned west and ahead I could see hope. Brightness through the murk! Within 5 minutes my depression was forgotten, and I was driving in bright morning sunshine, and looking west, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It was now a gloriously bright and crisp winters day, and suddenly the effort seemed worthwhile! Behind me, a huge wall of blackness hung over the Clwydians, but all of that was forgotten now.

I reached Llanbedr-y-cennein at 9am, and Robins and Dunnocks were singing, and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was drumming. It was almost like spring, except it was -2'c. Almost before I had parked the car, I saw a large finch like bird flying to the top of one of the high trees, and there it was, a fabulous Hawfinch! It was a great view, right on the top branch, with blue sky behind it and the sun shining right on it. And then it was gone. Unfortunately, I hadn't even had time to get my scope out. I hung around for another two hours, and had a reasonable though somewhat obscured view of a bird on the ground. I left at 11am feeling a little disapointed. My plan now was to head back to the Wirral via Conwy RSPB, but that was all stuff which could wait until tomorrow. Was it worth rushing back to the cold and gloom just to see a grotty Black Redstart? I spent an hour walking along the estuary at Conwy, trying to decide what to do. At 1pm I was back at at Llanbedr-y-cennin, and by now it was pleasantly warm.

This time I based myself in the church yard. Viewing was a bit restricted, and I couldn't see the tops of the trees, but it was much closer, and I had a hunch that the Hawfinches were actually spending more time low down or even on the ground than they were in the tops of trees.

The hunch paid off. Within minutes I had located two birds in a low bush and in full view, about 20 yards distant. They looked like male and female. The "male" had its back to me, but kept looking round in my direction, and after about 5 minutes it decided that it would be more comfortable to turn round and face me. In total I watched these fabulous birds for about 10 minutes, a real good experience. A few days ago there were 11 Hawfinches reported from this site.