My first Willow Warbler today, singing in the plantation at Farley Moor. I can't recall seeing one in March before although I usually expect one in the first week of April.
The unseasonally warm weather brought several today with reports of birds in the Cathole and further afield at Carsington and in the south of the County with doubtless more to come before the weather turns cool again.
Willow Warbler in song
Managed to find it this morning and still on Screetham Lane.
Northern Wheatear - male
An Osprey flew up the River Derwent towards Rowsley, from Churchtown this afternoon and the first Northern Wheatear was seen on Screetham Lane yesterday, sadly I saw neither but it's good to know that birds are on the move. Warmer weather is forecast for Monday and Tuesday so hopefully we'll see more birds moving north.
On the moors the strong, cold NW winds has made bird watching difficult but there were at least 32 Golden Plover in the fields opposite Screetham House today which is a big increase on yesterday, when I saw 11. All look to be northern birds with many assuming the black face and throat which distinguish them from southern breeding birds. In any case, as mentioned previously, English breeding birds will already be back in their nesting areas.
Golden Plover male coming in to breeding plumage
My first Sand Martins of the year with at least 7 at Chatsworth this afternoon. I was also pleased to see the the pair of Oystercatchers are also back and hope they are successful this year.
Plenty of Chiffchaffs in the valley now, and with the Curlew in song on the moor, it's starting to sound more like Spring but it's still rather cold.
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| Sand Martin |
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| Oystercatcher pair |
I saw the Great Grey Shrike again this afternoon, still on Bonsall Moor. Can't be long now until it departs I think. 
Great Grey Shrike
Most months I read the Bulletin of the Derbyshire Ornithological Society which includes a summary of sightings in the County during the prior month. For some reason I failed to read the January Bulletin and was surprised when I read in the February Bulletin a report of a Great Grey Shrike on the 27th February on Bonsall Moor. Referring back to January the shrike was also seen on 23rd, 24th and 26th January.
I was interested in the sightings for two reasons, firstly it's a rare and striking bird and they are always nice to see but secondly I wondered if it could have been the Farley bird, I'd last seen on 17th December.
I planned a walk around the moor with Pam which included the two main tracks across the rough moor area, but taking in Bonsall village and Uppertown. We were heading back across the moor when a bird diving from the top of a tree caught my I, as I moved towards the area Pam called 'shrike on the top of the tree in front of you' and sure enough there it was. Even in brief views I could see the white in the secondaries which indicated that it was the Farley bird which showed characteristics of the eastern European race homeyeri.
It was very sunny which was causing quite a bit of heat haze but I managed a few photos which confirmed that it was indeed the Farley bird.
You can read my write-up on the racial identification of this bird here.
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| Great Grey Shrike showing features of the race homeyeri |
My first Chiffchaff of the year, by the river at Rowsley this morning. Not in song but calling regularly. Simon had the first singing bird of the year that I am aware of on 26th February by the river at The Arc. I'm sure we'll be hearing plenty in the coming weeks.
Common Chiffchaff
Three Oystercatcher in Shinning Bank Quarry, Rowsley were a surprise this morning. It appears from the nocturnal monitoring of bird calls undertaken by Simon in Darley Dale that the Oystercatcher is one of a small number of wader species that probably regularly over fly the village on migration but are seldom seen.
The Oystercatcher has bred at Chatsworth in recent years and it's possible that these birds could remain in the area but may well continue on to breeding grounds further north.
The 3 Oystercatcher are 'bookended' by a pair of Mandarin, although the male is partly hidden.
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| Oystercatchers and Mandarin Ducks |