Little Grebe breeding success on the Lathkill

 At least one pair of Little Grebes have successfully hatched young on the River Lathkill. I usually have a couple of pairs at Chatsworth but, although I see one or two adults I've not seen any sign of nesting this year.

Little Grebe

A Common Quail at Elton Common on 6th June is fairly typical date for them to arrive, two males were calling there yesterday so hopefully they will be here for the summer.

Gulls are starting to appear on the upland fields where grass cutting has commenced. I counted 70 Lesser Black-backed at Pike Hall recently and 40 on the fields by the Alicehead crossroads has an adult Herring Gull with them. Hopefully we'll get a few Yellow-legged as the summer progresses.

Herring Gull

More of a surprise was an adult Pink-footed Goose with the breeding Greylags at Ashford Lake on 6th June and I presume its one of the birds that wintered with the Greylags at Youlgrave but it's my first summer record.

Pink-footed Goose

As of yesterday I have seen 100 species locally since the start of the month which shows how diverse the birdlife is locally!