Wheatear at last!

 Caught up with my first Northern Wheatear this morning, by the Triangle on Beeley Moor. I'd searched the area several times during the week without success but David Griffin had messaged me to say he had had a female by the Triangle on Sunday. I saw a male initially but it was soon joined by a female. 

Always exciting to see that first Wheatear of the Spring.

Northern Wheatear - male (upper) and male and female below

Sand Martins return to Chatsworth

Three Sand Martin bach at Chatsworth today and 6 Common Chiffchaff  were a sign that Spring really is on its way.

Sand Martin

The Mandarin and Goosander are now looking for nest sites and spending more time in the trees.

Mandarin

My first Golden Plover, a small group of 7, flew over East Moor yesterday but a flock of 60 were seen on Saturday.

I've been looking for Wheatear but without success but two were seen at Tansley on Friday and Simon had one at Carsington Water on Saturday.

Caspian Gull - Darley Dale

 As usual the flood waters between Darley Dale and Darley Bridge at Four Lane Ends have attracted large numbers of gulls this week. I've spent several hours checking through them each day this week but apart from one or two Herring and up to a dozen Common Gulls I hadn't managed to find anything else until this morning when I picked out an adult Caspian Gull.

Caspian Gull - adult

The number of gulls on the flooded fields were fairly static until this morning with around 500 Lesser Black-backed and 600 Black-headed but there were more birds this morning with 700-800 Lesser Black-backed and i estimated over 1000 Black-headed.

Lesser Black-backed and Black-headed Gulls on the flooded fields

The water level is steadily falling so without further rain the fields may dry out in the next couple of days.

A female Eurasian Teal has been resident in the Whitworth for about 10 days now, it's the first I can recall there.

I had a Northern Wheatear on the moor on the 17th October which I suspect will be my last. 

Northern Wheatear - female

There have been several sightings of Hen Harriers on the moor with both 'ringtails' (females or immatures) and an adult male so hopefully they will remain for the winter.

I was away for the big Redwing arrival on 9th October when several thousand were seen over Beeley Moor and 21k were counted over Ogston. There are still good numbers of Redwings around with plenty of Fieldfare and upto a dozen Brambling have been seen.

Return to the moors

 My first visit to the moors following 3 weeks in Georgia, mainly watching thousands of migrating birds of prey - hopefully I'll write up the trip on my wildlife diaries blog in the near future.

A few changes on the moor with lots of Meadow Pipits moving SW along with finch parties, mainly Goldfinch but with some nice flocks of Lesser Redpoll and a scattering of Chaffinch and Linnet.

Whinchat - juvenile

A juvenile Whinchat moving around the moor with a small party of Stonechat was nice to see and now quite a late date for them. A couple of Northern Wheatear on a formerly burnt area of moor was a bit more expected.

Northern Wheatear - female

Several Common Crossbill and more Lesser Redpoll in the 40 Acre area. A single skein of Pink-footed Geese and a lone Brambling were a reminder that autumn is well underway now and the winter thrushes should be arriving soon.

Autumn approaching

 It's starting to feel a bit more autumnal, the local Swifts have departed in the last few days and there are signs of other birds moving with Wheatears starting to appear on the moor. It's always nice to see birds with a background of flowering heather like this bird by the Triangle today.

Northern Wheatear - juvenile

i also had distant views of a female Merlin, shimmering slightly in the heat haze!

Merlin - adult female

An Osprey crossed the moor yesterday and what seems likely to be the same bird turned up at Carsington about 30 minutes later.

Northern Wheatear - Beeley Moor

 I missed the first Wheatears seen on 22nd March so was pleased when Ken phoned to say another had turned up by the Triangle. Always nice to see your first Wheatear of the year. Hopefully more to follow.

Northern Wheatear - male © Ken Smith

Migrant arrivals

 Having been away for a few weeks it looks like my return has coincided with that of some of our returning migrants, I've listed some dates below but there may be earlier records.

Curlew Beeley Moor 19th February

Oystercatcher Chatsworth 4 20th March

Osprey Wirestone Lane 20th March

Wheatear Beeley Moor 3 22nd March

Barn Swallow Beeley Triangle 21st March

Sand Martin Chatsworth 25 on 23rd March, first reported 20th March

Common Chiffchaff Chatsworth 4 on 23rd March, first reported 20th March.

We just need some warmer weather now!

Sand Martin

Wheatear -first juvenile of the year on Beeley Moor

 Back after almost a month away in Spain and the south of France it looks like the temperature here is set to hit similar levels to those I've just left behind! 

Not entirely sure what I have missed whilst I was away but I did see a report of a White Stork for Darley Dale with other reports fairly close from Ashbourne and Brailsford which were intriguing. 

It was good to get back on to the moors and nice to catch up with my first juvenile Wheatear yesterday, coincidentally I had a juvenile in 2020 on the 18th July, perhaps indicating that these have been born close to the moors.

Northern Wheatear - juvenile

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

First Pink-footed Geese of the autumn over Beeley Moor

 I was pleased to see a small skein of 40 Pink-footed Geese crossing Beeley Moor this morning, I had thought they might have missed us this autumn with a large movement of birds down the east coast last weekend with 12,000 passing Spurn on Friday the 21st. Hopefully there are still more to come, and we may catch birds returning to the Lancashire coast before the end of the year if there are issues with the sugar beet crop in Norfolk like last year.

A female or immature Merlin give superb views through the telescope as it sat on one of the old stone shooting butts and if I'd known it was going to fly directly towards me I could have had a nice photo but by the time I'd got the camera it was flying away. There are hundreds of Meadow Pipits migrating over the moor at the moment so there's no shortage of food for it.

Merlin female/immature flying away

The old shooting butts also attracted a migrant Northern Wheatear, only the second I've seen this month.

Northern Wheatear

There have also been several Jay crossing the moor, with a group of 5 yesterday and several small parties of Common Snipe.

With the colder weather now it definitely feeling like autumn now.

That first Northern Wheatear

 Managed to find it this morning and still on Screetham Lane.

Northern Wheatear  - male

First Osprey and Wheatear of the Spring

 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

Juveniles - the class of 2020

Lots of juveniles around at the moment, here are four of my favourites; Stonechat, Common Redstart, Wheatear and Long-tailed Tit. All seen around Beeley Moor.

Meadow Pipits on the move

A large movement of Meadow Pipits over Beeley Moor this morning. Parties of generally 15 to 30 were moving SW across the moor on a broad front but some groups numbered several hundred. Difficult to estimate the number of birds involved but 10,000 were counted passing over Wintersett Reservoir this morning. Many of these birds will be travelling down to the Iberian Peninsula for the winter.
A Northern Wheatear on Flash Lane allowed a very close approach but in heavily overcast conditions. I think this bird is an adult male, with lots of grey showing through on the crown and mantle and uniformly fresh plumage. It could be a 'Greenland' Wheatear, race leucorhoa, looking at the length of the primaries. These birds migrate from Greenland and Iceland through the UK and western Europe to Africa and, as is generally the case, longer distance migrants have longer wings.

Northern Wheatear - adult male

At least 6 Stonechat and 6 Red Grouse, which is my largest group of the autumn, rounded of the morning. 
I then headed over to Carsington where a second Grey Phalarope had turned up but I failed to find it.

Juveniles on the wing

I've mentioned previously that Green Woodpecker is a scarce bird in the area so I was pleased yesterday to see a juvenile on 70 Acre Plantation I also had a very smart juvenile Wheatear in the same area which is the first of the birds that pass through during the late summer and autumn. Although the Wheatear breeds as close as Harrington they are a very scarce breeder around Beeley.

Green Woodpecker - juvenile

Wheatear - 1st winter

On Friday I had the very unusual sighting of a Little Egret flying across Harewood Moor. Perhaps heading towards Carsington where there are at least 6 at the moment. Amazing how the numbers of Little Egret have increased in the UK in the last few years. 
Poor photo but an interesting record.

Little Egret

Wheatear with young - Long Dale, Hartington

One of the great great things about this area is the variety of habitats in close proximity. For example, the Wheatear occurs on passage in both Spring and Autumn on Beeley Moor but I have only known it stay to nest on a couple of occasions over the years. However, just a few miles away in the White Peak it is a reasonably common breeding bird in the summer. 
This morning I went to see how they were doing in Long Dale near Harrington. Some pairs already had fledged young whilst others were still feeding young in the nest. Just a few more weeks and they will be vacating the breeding areas as they start there journey south for the winter.

Wheatear female with young

Wheatear male, starting to look a bit worn

Wheatear female carrying food to the nest

First Cuckoo

My first Cuckoo on the moors this evening and my first female Wheatear on one of the trig points on the moor, the females always arrive after the males.
First Mottled Grey in the moth trap last night.

Wheatear - female

First Wheatear of the year

My first Wheatear of the year this morning on Beeley Moor. There were at least two sightings earlier in the week with singles at Beeley Triangle and Ramsey Reservoir on 17th March.
 The Great Grey Shrike still showing on the Triangle this morning and Ken had a Red Kite over Hackney yesterday.

Wheatear - male

Last Wheatear of the autumn?

Came across this Wheatear on East Moor late this afternoon. This is likely to be my last of the year, a Fieldfare flew over whilst I was watching it which is my first of the autumn and marks the changing of the seasons.

Wheatear

Wheatear in the pink

Came across a fine male Wheatear on the moor this morning which made a nice shot in the sunshine and heather.

Wheatear - male