If you think the English name for this bird (a Hawfinch) sounds a bit dodgey, then you should check out it's Latin name! Although we have a small breeding population of these birds in the UK, numbers increase during the winter months when several birds from main land Europe escape the colder climates for our 'much warmer' winter!! These birds are very shy, and despite there being large numbers of them here in Cluj, I'm still not able to get that close to them (this photo has been heavily cropped) .
Back in the UK, I've been lucky enough to help Tony Cross ring several of these birds in North Wales. They may look harmless, but believe me that beak is a lethal weapon. It can crack open cherry stones, so if you're not to careful when handling them, there's a good chance of losing part of your finger!
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(one of the colour ringed birds from our North Wales project. For more info on these and other bird ringing in Mid Wales visit www.midwalesringers.blogspot.com )
Not a bad photo though. Pity it doesn't have a yellow Darvic, now that would have been amazing!
ReplyDeleteI was very tempted to photoshop one on :)
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