Hawfinches are birds that I’ve heard a lot but that I’ve seldom seen in my garden. Always high up in the trees and very shy. So the goal was to photograph them but it took me quite a long time before I had everything setup in a way so that they like getting down to the lower branches. This year was the year I’d try a new approach.

I moved my hide and the feeders literally under the old apple tree. I also tried peanuts instead of just seeds as well. And after a few weeks one bird decided to come and take a look. At first a male that was very brave but didn’t even dare to sit on a post I put in the ground, he’d fly up and almost perch, but in the last second he’d fly straight back up the tree.
But each and every day he came closer, stayed a little longer and one day I found two feeding on the ground. I moved my hide even closer and the next day I shot the images you see on this page.

I also added some more feeding positions by just nailing used cans to a post. I fill them up with peanuts and seeds, and they love it. Right now they are still the last birds to arrive (while I can hear them high in the trees!), but every day they come down and stay around the entire time.