  In this note we characterize the essential numerical range of a block
diagonal o\-pe\-ra\-tor $T=\bigoplus_i T_i$ in terms of the numerical ranges
$\{W(T_i)\}_i$ of its components. Specifically, the essential numerical range
of $T$ is the convex hull of the limit superior of $\{W(T_i)\}_i$. This
characterization can be simplified further. In fact, we prove the existence of
a decomposition of $T$ for which the convex hull is not required.
