Greenshank - Middleton Moor

Black-tailed Godwits have been reported from several sites in Derbyshire during the past week but none locally as far as I know. I have made several visits to Middleton Moor with very little to show for it but a Greenshank this morning was a nice surprise. I did have a Dunlin there on the 1st and two femalw Gadwall are resident at the moment.

Three juvenile Wheatear at Middleton also on the 1st and a male Whinchat was my first of the year!

There are several Whinchat on Screethem Lane and still at least two Quail still calling there.

Greenshank - adult

Whinchat - Beeley Triangle

 I wasn't able to locate a Whinchat on Beeley Moor over the weekend. 

I blame the cold and the wind but it didn't stop Dave Griffin who photographed this male by Beeley Triangle on Sunday.

Whinchat - male © David Griffin

Whinchat, Hobby and a first Common Lizard of the year

 A male Whinchat held territory on Beeley Moor from late May in to June and I had hoped that it would breed, but despite several searches I have not been unable to find any juveniles and suspect the male either remained unpaired or the attempt failed. However, I did find an adult female on the fence line above Harthill Pond in Youlgrave earlier this week. 

Coincidentally, there were also records from Carr Vale and Ogston Reservoir on the same day, all the records were of adults and perhaps signals a departure of the adults from their breeding grounds.

Whinchat - adult female

Yesterday I came across two, presumably a pair, of Hobby chasing swallows above Rowsley. They have bred in the area previously and hopefully there is a nest with what should be almost fully grown juveniles somewhere nearby.

Hobby - second calendar year bird, lacking the red undertail and already moulting some primary feathers

During the summer months I always keep an eye on the dry stone walls in the hope of seeing a Common Lizard. Usually my first sightings are in late April or early May but this year I hadn't seen any until today when I saw a single adult on Flash Lane.

I perhaps haven't looked too hard this year and the weather was very poor in June but still it's very late for my first of the year. Hopefully I'll see more in the coming months as I usually record them through to mid-September.

Common Lizard

Whinchat - Beeley Moor

 It was good to be back on the moor this morning, having just returned from several weeks in France and Spain.

The weather could have been better though, as it was very misty first thing. Over the last few days I've caught up with most of the birds that I had either missed or hadn't arrived before I left such as Garden Warbler, Common Swift and Spotted Flycatcher and a lovely singing male Whinchat below Harland Edge this morning, albeit in the mist. Still with a bit of photo processing you can at least tell what it is.

Whinchat - male

The only regular breeding summer migrant I've yet to see is Nightjar, which I know have been back for about a week now, so will look to correct that omission in the next week, weather permitting.

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.

Whinchat - Elton Common

 Another interesting day, I started off in the conifers along Flash Lane and was both surprised and pleased to hear the Turtle Dove purring. It's a month since I last heard it and this is the latest I've ever recorded it. Seems unlikely it will return next year, but that's what I thought last year, fingers crossed! 

Whilst on the edge of the wood I heard a Common Greenshank calling, it called for perhaps 30 seconds and I thought it may have been circling the flooded field by the sharp corner but there was no sign of it when I checked.

This afternoon I went to the Elton Common area to look at the gulls which are starting to increase in number. I saw several hundred Lesser Black-backed but wasn't able to get anywhere near them so will have to wait until they favour a field closer to the road.

Whilst cycling the lanes I saw several Redstart, a Stonechat and a single Whinchat. It looks like a moulting adult female and it's the first time I've seen one at Elton Common and my first of the autumn.

Whinchat - female

Whinchat - last of our breeding migrants arrives

 Having seen my first Nightjars a couple of days ago a Whinchat this afternoon on Beeley Moor completes the arrivals of our breeding migrants, a superb male I'm hoping it will stay to breed. As the Whinchat is just arriving the first young Stonechats have fledged this week.

Whinchat - male

Had lovely views of a singing male Pied Flycatcher a few days ago. Usually most of the Pied Flycatchers I see are on the west side of the Derwent River but this year I have encountered 7 singing males on the east side of the although two birds were in Alders on the river bank so could have been either side, hopefully they will also stay to breed.

Pied Flycatcher - male

No signs of any Short-eared Owls this month but a Long-eared hunting over a clear fell area at dusk is a positive sign and a pair of Little Owls close to Bakewell are always nice to see.

Little Owl - pair

Goosander breeding success

 A female Goosander with 5 downy young was a nice surprise on the River Wye at Rowsley this morning. I didn't see any young last year so hopefully this is a sign of a better breeding season.

Goosander - female with 5 chicks

On the moor I managed all three chats today, with at least 4 Wheatear and a lovely singing male Whinchat as well as several pairs of Stonechat, which are now feeding the young of their first brood.

Northern Wheatear

My first Swifts were on the 10th May over Darley Dale but they may have arrived earlier as I have been away for a week. 

Alan reported the first Nightjar yesterday which he heard in the plantations bordering the moor and there was an unusual report on the 9th of a Black Kite seen over Flash Lane.

Whinchat breeding success

 Pleased to see at least one recently fledged Whinchat at Beeley Triangle yesterday. It's a very scarce breeding bird around Beeley Moor with breeding birds more likely to be encountered a little further north around Big Moor, but juveniles often pass through Beeley in the autumn. As far as I can recall this is the first confirmed locally bred bird since 2014.

Since first posting this blog Doug Aston has been in touch to let me know that a pair bred below Fallinge Edge in 2016 so maybe some pairs have been missed, which is quite likely.

Whinchat juvenile

Whinchat - Beeley Triangle

Whinchat have been in short supply this spring so I was pleased to find a female close to Beeley Triangle this morning. I was even more pleased when the female was joined by a male. 

I saw no evidence that they were breeding but it seems highly likely at this time of year so I left them to it.

Whinchat - male upper

First Yellow Wagtail and Whinchat and a stray Black Swan at Chatsworth

 Made an early visit to Chatworth to avoid the inevitable crowds on a Bank Holiday weekend. A Black Swan on the river in front of the house was a complete surprise. 

A native of Australia they are widely held in wildfowl collections and have established a small breeding population in the UK, mainly in the warmer south. In the most recent figures I could find the population was estimated at around 50 birds with a small number of pairs actually breeding. There have been several sightings at Carsington over the winter and there are perhaps several feral birds in Derbyshire.

Black Swan

A Yellow Wagtail, a scarce bird locally, was feeding along the edge of the river and at least one pair of Common Sandpiper.

Yellow Wagtail

Up on the moor the lone Whimbrel has been joined by a second bird and I had distant views of my first Whinchat of the year.

Whinchat, almost lost in the haze

I finished April with 106 species which is my highest monthly total for the Darley Dale area. Starting again today but may not try quite so hard!

Osprey at Chatsworth

 Definite autumn feeling as I set out this morning with a fresh NE wind blowing. I decided to have a look at Chatsworth before heading to the moor and was rewarded with an Osprey sat on a dead tree by the river with what looked like a small fish. There is a lot of water flowing down the river at the moment, consequently the water is very brown so the Osprey did well to catch something.

It wasn't happy to stay by the river with walkers passing but flew a short distance to the tree by the house to finish its meal.

Osprey

A party of 5 juvenile Goosander was a welcome sight and perhaps an indication that there has been some breeding success locally. The usual flock of Mandarin (32) feeding on the grass and a single Sand Martin still visiting a nest burrow which is very late but quite a few House Martin and Swallows were more expected.

Goosander - the white area between the eye and gape indicating that they are juveniles

Up on the moor a party of 8 Stonechat had a Winchat with them and my first group of 7 Snipe heading up on to the moor for the winter.

Whinchat

Lockdown day 43 - first Whinchat

Never common on Beeley Moor, although an occasional breeder, I finally caught up with a nice male Whinchat. Unfortunately rather distant and he turned round just before I took the photo hiding his bright orange throat and upper breast. Still, nice to see it and takes the lockdown list to 102 whilst the garden lockdown list remains on 65.

Whinchat - male

A nice party of Common Crossbill in Farley this morning, at least 15 birds and I saw two streaky juveniles but there could have been more. So more evidence of successful breeding by the crossbills.
Quite a few Swifts about now and Simon had a Hobby over Darley Dale a couple of days ago, no sign of any Nightjar back yet but three Woodcock. So still a few later arrivers to look for.
Simon Moody in Uppertown informs me that his Turtle Dove has returned for a third successive year which is great news.

Kingfisher - Rowsley

A scarce bird locally Kingfishers are again being seen around Caudwells Mill canal and the adjacent River Wye where this bird was photographed this morning. The all dark bill and red feet indicate that this bird is an adult male.

Kingfisher - adult male

Relatively quiet on the moors but a juvenile Whinchat at Whitesprings was in an unusual location. 

Whinchat - juvenile

A few birds from the weekend

I have just returned from a month in southern Europe (still writing up the trip on andybutlerdiaries ) and made my first visit to the moors over the weekend. The temperature at least was similar to those I experienced last week, but the birds were different!
A female Whinchat on Beeley Moor was the first I have seen locally this year and it doesn't look like they have bred here so this is probably a female that is passing through, hopefully having bred successfully elsewhere. 

Whinchat -  female

A party of at least 17 Crossbill on Flash Lane was a further sign that birds are already on the move as there have been only a couple of birds in the area in the earlier summer.
At Chatsworth no sign of any Common Sandpiper so looks like they have not bred on the river below the House this year but a Wigeon was very unseasonal, looks like this is a drake in eclipse plumage.

Wigeon = eclipse drake

On the river at Rowsley a juvenile Dipper was just about visible in the foliage on the edge of the river.

Dipper - juvenile

Whinchat = Beeley Moor

I've no evidence that Whinchat bred on Beeley Moor this year so this juvenile photographed on a fence on the edge of the moor was probably a local migrant from East Moor or Big Moor where there is a larger breeding population.

Whinchat - juvenile

Something to Chat about

A nice loose party of chats on the moor this morning, at least 8 Stonechat and 4 Whinchat. The Stonechats looked like they included a family party as there were several youngsters, these looked quite comical as they are moulting their grey and white spotted juvenile feathers for the smarter oranges, browns and blacks of the adult. Most of the head was still in the grey spotted juvenile feathers.
The heather is still in full flower making a great background.

Stonechat - moulting juvenile

Whinchat

Whinchats - Screetham Lane

A grey, wet and misty start to the day but it brightened by mid-morning. The only birds of note on the moor were a family party of 4 Whinchat on Screetham Lane. 
They have been in short supply this year so nice to see at least one family party.

Whinchat

Whinchat - juvenile

Whinchat feeding young

Despite poor weather this morning I went for another look at the Whinchat. I only saw one juvenile yesterday but didn't spend long watching them. This morning I was able to sit in the car and have a closer look. Both adults were present and I counted four, possibly five youngsters. Not sure about the caterpillar in the first photo, maybe Small Tortoiseshell?

Whinchat male feeding juvenile

Whinchat family - Beeley Moor

I haven't seen any Whinchat locally since early May so it was a pleasant surprise to come across a family party on the moor this morning. I saw and photographed one juvenile but there may well have been more.

Whinchat juvenile

Whinchat male

Whinchat female