Cetti's Warbler - Youlgrave

 A nice walk from Alport to Youlgrave yesterday along the river Bradford produced Kingfisher and Little Egret but the star bird was undoubtedly a Cetti's Warbler which was calling repeatedly and moving quickly upstream towards the road bridge at the bottom of the village. 

It showed well for a Cetti's Warbler but I wasn't quick enough with the camera, but did manage to record the distinctive call on my eBird checklist here.

Although I have had the long staying bird at Middleton this year this is the first for my 10km patch centered on Darley Dale.

Whooper Swans - Middleton Moor

 Went up to Middleton this morning without any great hopes as I assumed, correctly, that it would still be largely frozen. So I was surprised to see a nice herd of 10 Whoopers Swans in the small area of open water.

Whooper Swan

They departed east whilst calling loudly at 10:45, just as it started to rain. I managed a nice recording of the calls which is on my eBird checklist here.

It's remained warm so hopefully the ice will thaw quickly.

Hawfinch - St Helen's Church, Darley Dale

 Despite several searches in the early part of the winter it wasn't until 1st January that a single Hawfinch was seen briefly by Alan at St Helen's. 

I made several visits to the churchyard in the first week of January but didn't manage to see the hawfinch until yesterday when it perched up for a few seconds in a Sycamore before it dropped out of view in to the Darley Yew.

Today Simon saw three birds together so things are looking up. They have been scarce in the County so far this winter with up to 3 birds seen at Cromford but most reports have been of just a single bird.

Hawfinch

Generally its been a fairly quiet start to the year but I've seen Little Egrets at Chatsworth and Bakewell with one by the river at Ashford today. I also saw the Cetti's Warbler at Middleton Moor today but the lagoon is almost completely frozen at the moment.

Russian White-fronted Goose - Youlgrave

I've been checking the Greylag flock at Youlgrave regularly since numbers started to increase there, a decade or more ago and have been rewarded with several Pink-footed Geese over the years but have always hoped for something a little rarer. 

With records of Russian White-fronted Geese scattered across the country over the last few days I thought this would be a good time to check through the Youlgrave birds. 

Fortunately they were quite well positioned to north of the fishing lake and I was very pleased to find first one, with a very white face, and soon after another, with much less white. Both were obviously smaller than the Greylags which numbered about 120.

A patch tick for me so a nice Christmas present!

Russian White-fronted Goose

Middleton Moor Update

I've been a little slow to post recent sightings so here's a short update,

Hen Harrier

Adult female on 16th and 26th November

Hen Harrier

Jack Snipe

One on 16th November

Caspian Gull

Adult on 10th November

Caspian Gull - adult

Caspian Gull x European Herring Gull

One on 8th November

Pochard 

Two on 4th November, increased to 4 on 10th November

Common Pochard 2 male, 2 female

Black-tailed Godwit

One on 29th October

Black-tailed Godwit

The only other birds of note were 3 Little Egret on the flooded fields just north of Rowsley on 16th November and a Brambling flock on Bent Lane which has increased to over 100 birds.

The Cetti's Warbler is still at Middleton having survived the colder weather.

Cetti's Warbler - Middleton Moor

I was away for most of September returning on the 26th. The following day I went to Middleton Moor and watched what we believe is the first record of Cetti's Warbler for the Derbyshire Peak District with Ray Scally and Jon Lowes. It has remained at the site, calling frequently but has been difficult to see, but I finally managed some photos yesterday.

It's still present this morning and I had 11 Whooper Swans drop on to the lagoon which are the first of the autumn. Also over a hundred each of Redwing and Fieldfare. 

Cetti's Warbler

Cetti's Warbler was first recorded in Derbyshire in 1999 but with just 5 further records in the following decade. The first proven breeding was in 2010 and it has since colonised wetlands in much of the south of the county. 

So it has been expected further north but is clearly still very rare in central and NW Derbyshire.

Great Crested Grebe - Chatsworth

I first saw this juvenile Great Crested Grebe in front of Chatsworth House on 6th August but didn't have mt camera with me so I was both surprised and pleased that it was still there this morning. It's only my second record at Chatsworth so it is a real rarity there.

It will be interesting to see how long it stays, it looked healthy and must be feeding OK. 

Great Crested Grebe juvenile

Decent wader passage at Middleton

 The first real signs of autumn wader passage getting underway today at Middleton Moor with Wood Sandpiper, Dunlin and 4 Ringed Plover. The Ringed Plover and Dunlin departed high NW but the Wood Sandpiper was then joined by 3 Redshank and a Ruff.

On the 14th I had a Green Sandpiper at Middleton so the photos taken today of the Wood Sandpiper make a nice comparison with the Green, both are juveniles.

Wood Sandpiper juvenile

Green Sandpiper juvenile

Ruff juvenile

Ringed Plover, Wood Sandpiper and Dunlin

Common Scoter - Middleton Moor

It's been fairly quiet the past couple of weeks but a Common Scoter at Middleton Moor this morning is my first for the site. It was there for about 3 hours before flying off north-west. There were several other reports in Derbyshire suggesting there was a significant movemement last night. 

Common Scoter - drake

Two Tree Pipit at Middleton today is an unusual site record, they are much scarcer there than around Beeley.

Tree Pipit

A young Fox gave excellent views from the hide. I've seen one adult there that only has three legs but watching it walking or running you wouldn't immediately notice so it appears to be coping with its disability.

Fox

Black-tailed Godwit - Middleton Moor

Making regular visits to Middleton Moor paid off again yesterday with a superb adult Black-tailed Godwit. It was present when I arrived and I watched it for about an hour but after an arrival of about 100 Lesser Black-backed Gulls it departed.

Black-tailed Godwit

There has been some big movements of Black-tailed Godwits in the last few weeks, a flock of thirty were  seen at Carsington yesterday, and I'm not sure what they are doing. You would expects adults to be breeding now.

Five Yellow-legged Gulls were also at Middleton which perhaps marks the start of the summer arrivals of this species.

Greenshank - Middleton Moor

Black-tailed Godwits have been reported from several sites in Derbyshire during the past week but none locally as far as I know. I have made several visits to Middleton Moor with very little to show for it but a Greenshank this morning was a nice surprise. I did have a Dunlin there on the 1st and two femalw Gadwall are resident at the moment.

Three juvenile Wheatear at Middleton also on the 1st and a male Whinchat was my first of the year!

There are several Whinchat on Screethem Lane and still at least two Quail still calling there.

Greenshank - adult

Osprey - Darley Dale

 Another call from Alan Stewardson, this time regarding an Osprey he had found perched in a tree by the river in Darley Dale. 

I managed brief views of it as it flew up river but as I walked towards Rowsley in past me carrying a large Brown Trout. Fortunately it landed close-by and was easily visible on the branches of a dead tree. After spending some time adjusting its position, and that of the trout, it set about eating it.

Impossible to say what it's doing here at this time of the year. It could be a bird that has failed to breed elsewhere but is one of an increasing number of birds that are present in the midlands during the summer months.

Osprey

Common Quail - Beeley Moor

I heard a Quail calling from Screetham Lane last Wednesday (11th) and it was still present on Friday (13th). It was difficult to hear due to the persistant wind as well as the traffic noise. I did manage a brief recording of the call which can be heard on my eBird list.

I had a good evening with Nightjar, Woodcock and Long-eared Owl all seen or heard calling.

Reed Warbler and a breeding record of Hawfinch

 A singing Reed Warbler by the river at Peak Rail was a great find this morning by Alan Stewardson. It's the first time either of us have seen the species locally and for a bird that is usually found in reed beds it was an odd location. 

I managed some sound recordings but couldn't get a photo so the one below is from Middleton Moor, taken a couple of days ago, where there are at least six singing males in more typical habitat.

The recording is on the eBird checklist here

Reed Warbler

Whilst waiting for the Reed Warbler to show I saw several Banded Demoiselle along the river bank.

Banded Demoiselle - male

It's been a good week for Alan as he also found a pair of Hawfinch in the Darley Dale area and after some careful observations we confirmed that they were feeding two fledged youngsters. 

Formerly a regular breeder in the area they are now very rare in Derbyshire so it was great to be able to confirm that they had successfully raised two youngsters.

Hawfinch juvenile

Avocet - Middleton Moor

 I've been in Latvia at Kolka for the past 10 days so again catching up on local birds.

A good passage of waders through Middleton with a high counts of16 Ringed Plover on 25th May which left then 19 on 29th May.  Also Sanderling on 27th May then 7 on 29th.A Black-tailed Godwit was seen at Middleton on 22nd May.

I had 14 Dunlin drop in for an hour at Middleton on 30th Maywith a single Ringed Plover.

On the moors there has been regularly sightings of Hobby and the expected Nightjar and Woodcock.

This morning was a real surprise though, with a pair of Avocet on the lagoon. They slept for the first hour after I first saw them so I presume they were recent arrivals. After a sleep they were feeding and seemed fairly settled.

Avocet