Hen Harrier - Beeley Moor

 It's always a treat to see a Hen Harrier hunting over the moor but to watch an adult male is extra special. I picked it up over Beeley this morning heading towards Harewood Moor, it was quickly lost to sight but as I walked towards the moor I could see it in the distance sat in the grass. 

After about 5 mins it took flight, following the moor down towards Holymoorside where I finally lost it. As usual the views were fairly brief but still a real treat.

The last male I saw on Beeley was November 2020 so they are a very scarce bird locally.

Hen Harrier - adult male

Encounters with Northern Goshawk

 With the sunny weather in recent days I've spent some time looking for Goshawk which are now starting to display. I've had some luck with superb views of two young males, which I managed to photograph. 

The display period continues through March so there's still plenty of time to see them although their appearance above the tree canopy is rather unpredictable so you have to be prepared to spend quite a bit of time looking.

Northern Goshawk - 3rd calendar year males

New Year - highlights so far

I got off to a reasonable start on the 1st with the Little Egret still present at Harthill Pond, Youlgrave, where there were also 3 Goosander, and a Water Rail giving its squealing call by the River Wye just south of Bakewell. It was very windy on the moors and I struggled to find either Stonechat or Reed Bunting but a flock of 339 Lapwing on Screetham Lane was a record count and I had 18 Yellowhammer in the same area.

A group of 18 Herring Gulls at the stables on Longside Road above Holymoorside was another record count and included a first winter bird that looked like a Herring Gull x Caspian Gull hybrid with pale head and rather long bill, sloping forehead, barring on the scapulars and clean white base to the tail.

First winter Herring Gull left and presumed hybrid Herring x Caspian Gull (right)

I didn't do much yesterday but added some of the commoner birds like Bullfinch and Great Spotted Woodpecker plus another 2 drake Goosander close to Chatsworth which I saw again today.

Goosander - drakes

Today's highlight was a pair of Gadwall on Emperor Lake, I had a pair there last spring and wondered if they might be attempting to breed but never saw them after the spring but I'm guessing that this may be the same pair.

Gadwall - pair

There were at least 8 Teal and 4 Mandarin, the latter have now largely disappeared from the area now but will start to return to the rivers in the next couple of months.

I'm still missing a few common birds but have recorded 66 species on the first 3 days of the year, I made it to 80 in December so thats a reasonable target.

With ongoing travel issues associated with COVID and concern over the impact of travel on global warming there are more birdwatchers adopting local patches. This is the 8km (5 mile) radius from Darley Dale where I do most of my birdwatching.

But, I still do a few trips further afield, some of which I include on here and I made it to Carsington on the 31st December to see the Red-necked Grebe which is still there today.

Red-necked Grebe