What a day we had. One of the group, Lesley, had been visiting Cromford for 20 years hoping to see a Hawfinch. We tried for the first half an hour before setting off on our walk up along the canal and into Lea Wood, but without success. If you've been to Cromford you know how tricky these birds are to find.
Well after a 4 hour walk and 38 species, including a stunning male Sparrowhawk, very well behaved Treecreeper & Nuthatch sitting so we had lots of time to get a very good look, we ended, so we thought, with a beautiful Kingfisher. Also sat perfectly still for us. We then made a loo stop before heading back to the cars when a single Hawfinch made an appearance. It wasn't the best views, but through the scope we could see some good detail. Could we get closer and walk to the river bank? Yes we could, it sat for a good 10 minutes in the same spot and the views got better the closer we got. Needless to say, Lesley was over the moon as her 20 year wait ended.
Myself & Suzanne then took the short trip to Darwin Forest in the hope of seeing a lifer for her. After a short walk and 20 minutes of our time, 4 Crossbill flew over & 2 birds, a male & a female landed above us in a pine.
