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
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| Reed Warbler |
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| 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.
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| Hawfinch juvenile |
