White-tailed Eagle crosses Beeley Moor

 On 29th January 2005 I had cycled up to the Triangle and spent some time chat with Ken and Mel before working my way home. This was before the time of universal mobile phones and Ken didn't have my phone number. A little later I heard that they had seen an immature White-tailed Eagle land on Harland Edge where it spent some time there before drifting off towards Chatsworth. I drove back up to the moor but there were no further sightings after I returned.

This morning, also having cycled up, I was stood with Ken on the Bar Road when Mick Taylor rang to say a White-tailed Eagle had just left Ogston at about 09:10 heading North West. I knew Robin Elliot was also on the moors so quickly sent him a text message to alert him. Ken and I decided to move to the Triangle which give slightly better all round views.

At 9:30 Robin rang back to say that he could see the bird distantly from Whitesprings, a sub-adult, still travelling NW and looking like it was over the Sitches Plantation area. Ken and I scanned the area frantically but couldn't pick the bird up.

At around 11:00 a White-tailed Eagle past over Blackmoor Foot Reservoir just SW of Huddersfield which I presume was the same bird.

The fact that it was a sub-adult bird means it isn't one of the released birds for the Isle of Wight reintroduction programme and I understand that Roy Dennis has confirmed this. So it was presumably a wandering wild bird from the Scottish population.

Hopefully I'll see the next one!

Return of the Wood Warbler

 The first Wood Warblers were seen and heard in the woodlands close to Darley Dale today with two, possibly three birds present. 

The last week in April is typically when I expect them to arrive having wintered in sub-Saharan Africa although last year we had an exceptionally early record on 6th April. 

Garden Warblers have also returned in the last couple of days and I had my first Common Sandpiper at Chatsworth this morning so aside from the scarce migrants like Lesser Whitethroat, Yellow Wagtail and Whinchat we just have the Swifts, Spotted Flycatcher and Nightjar to look forward to.

Wood Warbler

Return of the Turtle Dove and first Whimbrel on Beeley Moor

After my last blog, in which I mentioned that Alan had heard a Turtle Dove on Flash Lane, Simon Moody contacted me to say that he had first seen the regularly returning bird on 11th April and had seen or heard it fairly regularly since then. This is the 5th year that Simon has seen this particular returning male.

I looked and listened for it several times without success until this morning when I came across it purring from the top of a conifer tree not too far from Matlock Forest. It was calling regular and several times did a display flight which is very similar to the Collared Dove.

Can it find a mate this year? It would be fantastic if it could be the chances are low given that the Turtle Dove seems to be almost lost from Derbyshire now.

Turtle Dove - display flight

A little later I was cycling across Beeley Moor and stopped to check a field which held several Curlew and found a smart Whimbrel. 

It was feeding quite happily much as birds have in prior years and this seems like a regular stopping off spot for birds heading to Scotland or perhaps Iceland or northern Scandinavia.

Whimbrel

Ring Ouzel at last

I was on Flash Lane this afternoon, looking for a Turtle Dove that Alan Stewardson had heard this morning. 

No sign of the dove but 2 female Ring Ouzel were ample compensation. I've struggled to see Ring Ouzel locally the last few years so I was very pleased to see these two birds and to manage a record photo.

Hopefully the Turtle Dove will be relocated.

Ring Ouzel - female

 

More migrant arrivals including an early Hobby

 As I had hoped in my last post the warm weather produced more migrant arrivals with the first Grasshopper Warbler and several Wheatear on Thursday (14th) Cuckoo and Common Whitethroat yesterday (15th) all on Beeley Moor. 

This evening I had a call from Robin Elliot to say he had seen a Hobby on Bent Lane and fortunately it was still sat in an isolated Birch tree on the moor when I got there, a few minutes later. It's the first April Hobby I have seen and only a few days later than the earliest record listed in the Birds of Derbyshire which is given as 13th April. 

Thanks to Robin for finding it and giving me a call and for use of his photo.

Hobby © Robin Elliot

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

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