and my first ever Hawfinch
Following my post about the Wild Service Tree a few days ago, a friend of mine got in touch to say he’d also become quite fascinated by this tree, and had managed to grow some from seed after last summer’s hot weather. Peter generously offered to give me one of the tiny saplings so that it can grow up and accompany the one we planted in the woodland. We arranged a visit for me to collect said sapling, but imagine my surprise (and slight embarrassment!) when I found a magnificent specimen almost on my doorstep.
I walk my dog along the Cuckoo Trail most days, and on Sunday I walked under a large tree and thought I heard a swarm, there was so much buzzing in the canopy. I looked up and realised the tree was covered in blossoms and realised it wasn’t the hawthorn which I had assumed it was, but was in fact…a Wild Service Tree.
The last picture (furthest on the right if you’re viewing this on a website) is taken from the bridge I walk over to get to the Cuckoo Trail, so you can see how near it is. At about 18 metres or so, it’s a very mature example and it’s been hiding in plain sight all this time. I think the problem is that they look like a hawthorn when in flower and a sycamore or a maple when they’re not. That’s my excuse anyway.
I told Peter, who is logging sightings for reference (his website is here) and I went to collect my tiny tree from his house, driving through the Sussex countryside thinking what a glorious place it is to live. Having been given tea, a tree, and a heads-up about the WST on the way back, I headed home, stopping to photograph the tree, looking very unassuming as it nestled within a scruffy hedgerow.
Just before I reached the shaded lanes, I spotted a couple of birds fly up away from me as I drove past a field with some small trees – possibly an orchard? – although I was concentrating on the narrow road so didn’t take in much detail. My immediate thought was “Hawfinch!” as there were large white patches on the wings and they looked too chunky for Chaffinches. I know they are rarely seen but are definitely found here in Sussex. I’ve never seen a Hawfinch before and although this was fleeting glimpse, I am always pleased to see a new bird. Here is an illustration, in gouache on Fabriano Artistico paper:
