EXPERT help and guidance to help visitors to Sizergh castle and gardens spot the elusive hawfinch is to be given by ranger Rob Pocklington.

The bird has become rarer to see in recent years due to a decline in many of its traditional breeding areas.

Mr Pocklington has joined forces with the Morecambe Bay Partnership and RSPB to set up the hawfinch recovery project. The project team will be catching and fitting hawfinches with tiny radio trackers and coloured rings which will enable data on individual birds to be recorded. The information will inform woodland management on creating better conditions to help the birds thrive in the future.

The hawfinch spotting events will take place on March 17, 18, 24, 25 and 31 and April 1, 7 and 8, between 8am and 10am.