Photographer captures moment a rare Hawfinch took a dip to cool itself down
A photographer captured the moment a rare Hawfinch took a dip to cool itself down.
Colin Vanner, 65, was walking around West Sussex on July 2 when he noticed two of the birds - a male and a juvenile.
Known for being a shy, one of the Hawfinches then went to hide before coming out 10 minutes later to get a drink.
Hawfinches are a red-list species in the UK - meaning they have fewer than a thousand breeding pairs - so Colin doesn't want to reveal the exact location where he snapped up the photo.
Colin, from Portsmouth, said the last hawfinch he saw was seven years ago in Romsey.
He said: "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it. They are a shy bird; they tend to hide and stay still for 10 to 15 minutes before they move again.
"I saw it go into a tree, where it waited for 10 minutes before popping out again.
"They are very wary birds; they couldn't see me at all."
The Hawfinch is the UK's largest finch and has a huge bill, according to the RSPB. They are usually shy and difficult to see, but are getting harder to spot as their traditional breeding areas have declined in recent years.