Mediterranean Gull and Common Shelduck - two new birds for the Darley Dale area

 Whilst the flooding causes major disruption and worse for those whose properties are directly affected it also creates new temporary habitat for wildlife. The area between Darley Dale and Darley Bridge at Four Lane Ends has flooded many times over the years and can attract large numbers of gulls.

Today the flooded area attracted a Common Shelduck, a bird that presumably flies up and down the valley occasionally, as they occur reasonably regularly at Middleton Moor. But this is the first record I'm aware of for the Darley Dale area.

Whilst looking through the gulls I passed over a bird with a jet black hood and pale silvery wings, an adult Mediterranean Gull and another new bird for the area. 

Interestingly, Simon recorded the first Mediterranean Gull of the year at Carsington Water yesterday and there must be a reasonable chance that this is the same bird.

He also had a 2nd winter Caspian Gull and Yellow-legged Gull amongst the 100 Herring Gulls, 40 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 20 Common Gulls and 150 Black-headed Gulls this afternoon.

Mediterranean Gull - adult in breeding plumage

Common Shelduck in the rain

A Curlew flew over whilst I was watching the gulls which is my first of the year here.

Who knows what birds might drop in if we had a permanent wetland.

Flooding at Four Lane Ends

Great Grey Shrike relocated on Bonsall Moor

 The Great Grey Shrike was last reported on the 9th December on Bonsall Moor but I felt that there was a good chance it was still somewhere in the area. Once a shrike establishes a winter territory they are usually faithful to it, only leaving when they start the journey back to the breeding area.

I've returned 4 or 5 times since to look for it without success but this morning I got lucky and saw it sat on top of a hawthorn bush just off the rough track below the Motocross circuit, just 1.5km from where I originally found it. Presumably it's been in this are since early December and hopefully now it will be seen a bit more regularly.

I don't think there is any doubt that it is the same bird that was seen on Bonsall Moor in January 2021 having been first located on Farley Moor in November 2020. It shows the same pale rump and white in the secondaries that indicated that this bird could be of the eastern European race homeyeri.  I did a write up on the bird on my Wildlife Diaries blog. I'll be looking out for photographs of the spread tail if anyone manages to get one which may help confirm its racial identity.

It has clearly eaten recently, perhaps a small bird or mouse, as there is blood staining its lower breast as can be seen on the photo below.

Great Grey Shrike

Another sighting of the Hen Harrier

I saw the male Hen Harrier on the 22nd January and it was seen again on the 23rd January but as far as I'm aware it was seen subsequently so it was a very pleasant surprise to see it close to Wragg's Quarry this morning.

It was a long way off but still looked stunning as it broke the sky line, buffeted by today's strong winds.

Hen Harrier - male

Hawfinch at Chatsworth

 The decline of the Hawfinch shows no sign of abating, this winter I have only heard a couple of reports of single birds at Cromford so I was very pleased to see a single bird in the beech trees close to Chatsworth House this morning. It was sat on the very top of the trees and looked to be calling, although I couldn't hear it stood about 100m away. After about 10 minutes it flew towards the Hunting Tower in the wooded area at the back of the house. 

This is an area which I check regularly so I don't think it's a regular visitor although historically Chatsworth is a site that has had wintering and occasional breeding birds.

The habitat still looks suitable so it's possible the odd pair might still breed here, I hope so anyway.

Hawfinch - not sure of its sex from this view

 

Return of the Red Kite

From my records it's starting to look like the Red Kite is absent from the Peak District for several months during the winter. My last sighting in 2021 was on the 26th September and I saw my first bird this year on 25th January. In 2020 my last sighting was at the end of August with no further sightings until 3rd February 2021. Just a dozen miles away at Carsington Water sightings look to continue through the winter so it is perhaps a very localised movement away from the Peak District presumably related to the availability of food.

Today I watched a pair displaying which, compared to some birds of prey, was a rather tame affair with the birds high circling and occasionally passing close to each other and periodically chasing whilst dropping in to the trees. Several times during the circling one of the birds was carrying a small branch, once it its talons and once in its bill.

Still a scarce bird locally each year I expect the numbers to increase but it has been slow progress so far.

Red Kite

Hen Harrier - Beeley Moor

 It's always a treat to see a Hen Harrier hunting over the moor but to watch an adult male is extra special. I picked it up over Beeley this morning heading towards Harewood Moor, it was quickly lost to sight but as I walked towards the moor I could see it in the distance sat in the grass. 

After about 5 mins it took flight, following the moor down towards Holymoorside where I finally lost it. As usual the views were fairly brief but still a real treat.

The last male I saw on Beeley was November 2020 so they are a very scarce bird locally.

Hen Harrier - adult male

Encounters with Northern Goshawk

 With the sunny weather in recent days I've spent some time looking for Goshawk which are now starting to display. I've had some luck with superb views of two young males, which I managed to photograph. 

The display period continues through March so there's still plenty of time to see them although their appearance above the tree canopy is rather unpredictable so you have to be prepared to spend quite a bit of time looking.

Northern Goshawk - 3rd calendar year males

New Year - highlights so far

I got off to a reasonable start on the 1st with the Little Egret still present at Harthill Pond, Youlgrave, where there were also 3 Goosander, and a Water Rail giving its squealing call by the River Wye just south of Bakewell. It was very windy on the moors and I struggled to find either Stonechat or Reed Bunting but a flock of 339 Lapwing on Screetham Lane was a record count and I had 18 Yellowhammer in the same area.

A group of 18 Herring Gulls at the stables on Longside Road above Holymoorside was another record count and included a first winter bird that looked like a Herring Gull x Caspian Gull hybrid with pale head and rather long bill, sloping forehead, barring on the scapulars and clean white base to the tail.

First winter Herring Gull left and presumed hybrid Herring x Caspian Gull (right)

I didn't do much yesterday but added some of the commoner birds like Bullfinch and Great Spotted Woodpecker plus another 2 drake Goosander close to Chatsworth which I saw again today.

Goosander - drakes

Today's highlight was a pair of Gadwall on Emperor Lake, I had a pair there last spring and wondered if they might be attempting to breed but never saw them after the spring but I'm guessing that this may be the same pair.

Gadwall - pair

There were at least 8 Teal and 4 Mandarin, the latter have now largely disappeared from the area now but will start to return to the rivers in the next couple of months.

I'm still missing a few common birds but have recorded 66 species on the first 3 days of the year, I made it to 80 in December so thats a reasonable target.

With ongoing travel issues associated with COVID and concern over the impact of travel on global warming there are more birdwatchers adopting local patches. This is the 8km (5 mile) radius from Darley Dale where I do most of my birdwatching.

But, I still do a few trips further afield, some of which I include on here and I made it to Carsington on the 31st December to see the Red-necked Grebe which is still there today.

Red-necked Grebe

Water Rail - Caudwells Mill

 In very murky conditions I had a look at Caudwells Mill this morning and was lucky to see a Water Rail. They are doing some repairs on the weir at the canal and have lowered the water level which has created a muddy edge where the Water Rail was feeding.

This winter I've also recorded Water Rail at Youlgrave and close to Bakewell. Due to their secretive behaviour it's difficult to know what numbers may occur in the area. There is an abundance of suitable habitat in the form of small ponds and the vegetated banks of the river Bradford, Lathkill and Wye so they are doubtless more common than my records suggest. I've also seen them on the pond in the Whitworth Park several times.

I've only recorded them between late October and March but they have bred as close as Wyver Lane, Belper so they could breed on occasion.

Water Rail

Another Little Egret

 Having said last week that Little Egrets have remained scarce locally I've seen two in two days this week. The first bird was still at Youlgrave yesterday, it flew over the village and landed in the cattle field by the road leading to Harthill Pond. 

Today I saw a bird in Matlock flying from Lumsdale heading towards the ponds at Tansley. I guess it could be just one bird but it seems unlikely.

A Barn Owl hunting by the river below Beeley village was an unusual sighting this morning.

I had a look for the Great Grey Shrike at Bonsall Moor last Friday without success but it was still there on Thursday (9th Dec) so is probably still in the area.

Little Egret

Caspian Gull - Elton Common

 I check the Elton Common area for gulls fairly regularly but, even when the gulls are about, it's very hit and miss whether you can find them as they move around a lot. This afternoon I was about to give up when a saw a small group of Common Gulls landing in a distant field. Fortunately I was able to drive a little closer and counted 28 Common, 3 Lesser Black-backs and a very white-headed bird that looked like an adult Caspian Gull.

I took some rather distant photos and was able to confirm the key features of Caspian, un-streaked white head (the head of Herring Gull is heavily streaked in winter), flat forehead, rather long narrow bill, small dark eye and slender body with protruding breast. 

They are also longer legged than Herring but this is difficult to see when walking in grass.

Single birds are recorded fairly regular in the autumn at both Ogston and Carsington and this bird will presumably roost at the latter but it's only the second I've seen in the Darley Dale area.

In the very strong wind the birds were constantly moving and quickly went out of view.

Caspian Gull - adult

Little Egret - Youlgrave

 Despite the dramatic increase in the number of Little Egrets recorded in the County it remains a scarce visitor to the Darley Dale area. So it was a pleasant surprise to find a bird this morning feeding in the field next to Harthill Pond in Youlgrave.

It was flushed by the cattle in the field and briefly fed on the river by the bridge before being disturbed by walkers and returning to the pond.

They are more or less resident during the summer at Carsington and Ogston and the first breeding was recorded at Drakelow in 2018 so we are likely to see more of them in the future.

Little Egret

Chatsworth in the snow

 With the snow and freezing temperatures over the last couple of days I didn't think it was a good idea to drive up on to the moor so I went to Chatsworth instead. I was hoping that with the freezing weather some waterfowl might have been forced on to the river but the only unexpected birds were two drake Tufted Duck but they were accompanied by the hybrid Tufted/ Pochard which is the first time I've seen it this winter. I first saw it in February 2014 so it's been wintering in the area for quite some time.

Tufted/ Pochard hybrid with two drake Tufted Duck

There were lots of Siskin feeding in the Alders along the river and they looked very festive in the snow laden trees.

Siskin

Evidence of birds being forced of the higher moors came in the form of two Common Snipe flushed from the river edge and a lone female Stonechat, both species are very scarce along the river.

Common Snipe

There were plenty of Redwing around and one or two Brambling but the scenery made up for any disappointment on the bird front.

River Derwent at Chatsworth

Great Grey Shrike = Bonsall Moor

 Very surprised this morning to find a Great Grey Shrike on Bonsall Moor. It's in the same area on Leys Lane as the bird present last winter. It looks a little darker, especially over the eye and on the scapulars than last winters bird, but then it has had a complete moult.

There were hundreds of Fieldfare and Redwing feeding on the Hawthorn berries 

Great Grey Shrike

Fieldfare arrival - at last

 Finally, Fieldfare are arriving in numbers this morning. I saw my first Fieldfare of the autumn only on Tuesday, when 55 arrived in the Cathole valley but this morning as I walked by the river north of Darley Dale there were large groups crossing the valley heading west. I counted 1050 but there must have been many more moving high and west along with several hundred Redwing.

migrating Fieldfare