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

Willow Warbler and Tree Pipit back around the moor

 My first Willow Warblers today back in Farley with two birds singing and a Tree Pipit at Whitesprings is about a week earlier than usual.

Tree Pipit

Ring Ouzel - Flash Lane

 After the persistent wind and rain of recent days it was a pleasure to go out this morning in dry and calm conditions. I was soon rewarded with a couple of Tree Pipits singing in Whitesprings with several Willow Warblers jn the background.

Walking up Flash Lane with Alan we had a nice party of 35 Fieldfare on the edge of Sitches plantation and returning to the same area half an hour later a Ring Ouzel was sat in a roadside tree. Judging by the amount of white on the chest it's probably a first summer male but could be an older female.

Ring Ouzel

On the moors a Red Kite drifted over, then another bird circling high over Harland Edge turned out to be a Short-eared Owl, my first this year. It gained height and was eventually lost to view.

To finish the morning a male Peregrine treated us to a close fly past.

Peregrine Falcon - male

There should be more migrants arriving in the next few days with the warmer weather forecast.

More migrant arrivals

 Despite the rather cool temperatures there has been a steady arrival of migrants in to the area over the past week. Hopefully, warmer weather forecast for the end of the week will see an increase in the number of migrant birds arriving;

Willow Warbler - 4th April in Farley Plantation and now fairly widespread in the woodlands close to the moor.

Blackcap - several singing birds recorded from 7th April and again can be heard in many wooded areas now. Impossible to distinguish true migrants from overwintering birds although the latter tend not to do much singing.

Common Redstart - 8th April a male singing by the river at Rowsley is my only record so far.

House Martin - 10th April over Darley Dale

Tree Pipit - 10th April at Flash Dam and several reported at Whitesprings Plantation this morning/

Pied Flycatcher - 11th April, singing males reported singing in woodland on both sides of Darley Dale

Merlin - a female on Beeley Moor this afternoon is the only record of the Spring so far and there was only an odd record over the winter. This former breeding bird appears to be just a scarce passage migrant now.

Pied Flycatcher - a male gave a few short bursts of song this morning

Spring has sprung - first Pied Flycatchers, Tree Pipits, Willow Warblers and Redstart today

 I was abroad during March and thought I had timed my return to coincide with the start of the spring migration. However, the first week of April felt more like winter than spring and the birds clearly felt the same as there was little evidence of any migrant arrivals. 

My first migrants were the expected Chiffchaffs which I have seen, or heard daily since 1st April. Surprisingly I had two Swallow over Beeley Moor on the 2nd but didn't see any Sand Martin until the 8th when I had six birds at Chatsworth where I also saw my first Blackcap.

The weather finally changed this week when the wind moved round to the south for a period and the day time temperature rose by several degrees. The effects were soon apparent with migrant numbers rapidly increasing. Today I had my first Willow Warbler, not just one though, I counted at least 14 today. I also recorded my first Pied Flycatchers of the year as well as Common Redstart and several Tree Pipit. 

Pied Flycatcher - always a welcome sight

Although the wind has moved round to the west maximum day time temperatures are around 16˚C to 17˚C so hopefully birds will continue to move north.

Although I haven't seen Wheatear yet on the moor I did see 9 (6 males, 3 females) in Long Dale, Hartington at the weekend. The males were singing and giving occasional song flights. It's amazing that migrant Wheatears are only just starting to appear locally but they are already establishing breeding territories just 12km from Darley Dale.

There have been several sightings of Osprey nearby with birds at Wyver Lane, Belper, Baslow, Carsington and Ogston so there must be a decent chance of one locally.

There are plenty of Mandarin back on the river and I got a nice photo of a pair mating yesterday. The males take some beating for their colour and ornate feathers.

Mandarin mating

Return of the Cuckoo

 I heard my first Cuckoo on the 15th April on Beeley Moor, heard another calling at Chatsworth on the 16th and managed to see the Beeley bird again this morning as it crossed the moor,

Common Cuckoo

The first Tree Pipit were singing at Whitesprings and Sitches Plantations on 14th April.

Tree Pipit in song

Mixed feeding flocks

With the breeding season over and very few birds now singing the local woodlands can appear almost birdless at times. Most of the small woodland birds, passerines, are now in mixed feeding flocks so unless you come across one of these groups you're not likely to see many birds.

The benefits of mixed feeding flocks are thought to be two fold, there is better protection against  predators with so many birds on the lookout and listening, and each bird can afford to be less vigilant and focus more on feeding. Secondly their feeding is more efficient as the flock is more likely to encounter a good feeding area but because they are in mixed flocks the competition for the same food type is reduced compared with a single species flock.

Spotted Flycatcher

Over the past few weeks I've encountered some large mixed flocks, some numbering several hundred birds with a mix of finches, mainly Siskin and Chaffinch, and warblers, predominantly Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers but also Blackcap, and tits, with Blue, Great and Coal plus a few Long-tailed. Other species mixed with the flocks include Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Spotted Flycatcher, Goldcrest and even Tree Pipit.

Tree Pipit - juvenile

So if you come across a mixed feeding flock its worth stopping for a while to see what species are in it. Each winter several rarities are found that have become attached to one of these mixed feeding flocks.

Separating adult Tree and Meadow Pipits

If only Tree Pipits stuck to trees, and Meadow Pipits to moors and meadows their identification would be easy. Fortunately only the Meadow Pipit is likely to be encountered on the open moors but around the fringes the Meadow Pipit may be found in trees and bushes and the Tree Pipit spends a fair bit of time feeding on the ground where Meadow Pipits may also be found.
The Tree Pipit is a true migrant leaving the local area in September for sub-Saharan Africa and returning in mid-April. Most of our Meadow Pipits are also migrants heading to southern France and Iberia but a small number remain throughout the winter, usually in low land meadows, with the bulk returning, and many passing through the area, from mid-March through April.
In spring and summer their songs are the easiest way to separate them and the Chaffinch like rattle of Tree which usually precedes the zee-zee-zee phrase as the bird parachutes back on to a tree are often the first indications that Tree Pipits have returned to the local forestry clearings. The Meadow Pipit song is also given in flight with rising tinkling notes followed by a trill as it descends back to land.

Tree Pipit (left) v Meadow Pipit (right)

In direct comparison the Tree is a longer slimmer bird than the Meadow and has a stouter thicker based bill but this is difficult to judge when faced with a lone bird. In general colouration the Tree is a paler, brighter looking bird with warmer brown tones and whiter underparts compared with the more olive brown tones of Meadow. In a close view the short curved hind claw of Tree  is diagnostic, Meadow has a much longer less curved hind claw. 
The single most important plumage characteristic is the flank streaking which is fine on Tree and can be almost invisible at a distance so the pale lower breast contrasts with the dark streaking of the upper breast whereas on Meadow the broad dark streaks of the upper breast continue down the flanks.
On the upper breast the dark malar stripe of Meadow tends to coalesce into a dark splodge on Meadow below the cheek, which is absent in Tree.
The pale tips to the median coverts contrast with the dark feather centres on tree giving a distinct black and white bar on the wing which is more subdued and less contrasting in Meadow but lighting can affect this, on a dull overcast day the Tree looks less contrasty than in bright sunlight.

Tree Pipit (left) in subdued light v Meadow Pipit (right) in bright light

Tree Pipit has a pale supercilium, most obvious behind the eye and often shows a pale spot on the ear coverts similar to the much rarer Olive-backed Pipit. On Meadow the supercilium is indistinct producing a rather bland head pattern where the most noticeable feature is the pale eye ring.

The Meadow Pipit will often call when disturbed giving a distinctive sip-sip-sip whereas the Tree tends not to call much on the breeding grounds but delivers a characteristic rasping seep call on migration.

Behaviour wise, other than habitat preferences mentioned at the start of this post the Tree Pipit has a tendency to wag its tail when moving in a tree which is not something I've seen the Meadow Pipit do which tend to remain stationary having  landed in a tree or bush. 

Common Cranes over Beeley Moor!

After almost a week of cold and mist weather on the moors it felt a lot more Spring like this morning. After male Ring Ouzel and singing male Redstart we had already had a good morning when two Common Cranes came over the moor just before 10am and circled close to Whitesprings plantation gaining height before drifting off in the Farley/ Matlock direction. They were subsequently seen over Loscoe Dam.
With the increase in the Norfolk population and birds regularly around Thorne Moors in South Yorkshire it is surprising that there are still less than twenty records in Derbyshire.
A Tree Pipit singing on the edge of the plantation as we left was another first for the year.

Common Cranes

Tree Pipit

Tree Pipits are back on the moor and with plenty of recently cleared conifer plantations there is plenty of new habitat for them this year. Whitethroats and Willow Warblers are in good numbers and several Cuckoo calling from the moorland edges.

Tree Pipit

More migrant arrivals

Along with the Willow Warblers several Tree Pipit in song by Flash Lane, also my first Blackcap singing this morning and a male Ring Ousel flew from Hellbank Plantation to Harland Edge. There were three Ring Ousel this morning at Harboro Rocks above Carsington this morning according to Roger. Still cold though.

Tree Pipit

Tree Pipit studies

Last week I mentioned I had tried to get photographs of Tree Pipit in its display flight and failed due to the weather. I tried again today with more success. Tree Pipits certainly seem to be in good numbers this year in the trees adjoining the open moor.
The photograph below that shows the short curved hind claw and the two photographs below that the narrow flank streaking which, in addition to the song and habitat, help to distinguish it from the very similar Meadow Pipit.

Tree Pipit

Tree Pipit

Plenty of Tree Pipits around now, they favour woodland edges particularly where the pine trees have been removed. I was hoping for display shots in flight but the weather was terrible this morning so just a record shot.

Tree Pipit

Tree Pipit

It's rained on and off all day but this Tree Pipit didn't seem to mind, singing most of the morning from a favourite perch.

Tree Pipit