Great Grey Shrike - Middleton Moor

 Having been to Middleton Moor several times recently it was a pleasant surprise yesterday to see that some gulls had returned. They disappeared when it froze over last month but I counted 130 Common as well as 30 Black-headed plus a handful each of Lesser Black-backed and Herring.

As well as the gulls there were more wildfowl with 5 Pintail, which included three smart drakes, and an increase in Shoveler plus a lone Shelduck.

A Hen Harrier did a rapid pass over the fields at Black Harry Gate and I managed a quick photo before it departed as quickly as it arrived.

Sat in the hide with another birdwatcher he casually stated that he thought he had a Great Grey Shrike and sure enough there it was sat atop a small bush on the eastern bank, distant but easily recognisable. I quickly grabbed a few photos before it dropped out of view. 

Formerly seen most winters on Beeley Moor it is now a very scarce visitor and I can only find a single previous record at Middleton Moor on 23 October 1988!

All in all a very nice Christmas present!

Great Grey Shrike

Hen Harrier - female

Pintail

Shelduck

Water Rail - Long Meadows, Darley Dale

 During the winter period (November - February) I can usually hear Water Rails calling in the reedy areas at Long Meadows and the entrance to Haddon Park Farm and occasional at Harthill Pond, Youlgrave, Cromford Canal and even the Whitworth Park. Very occasionally I've come across birds that feed out in the open which have previously featured on the blog. 

Today I got brief views of a bird at Long Meadows which is the first I've seen for a while.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and good birding in the New Year!

Water Rail

Red-crested Pochard - Lumbsdale

 June Oliver let me know that she had seen a drake Red-crested Pochard yesterday whilst walking in Lumbsdale. It's a bird I've never seen locally, and I'm not aware of any previous records in the Matlock/ Bakewell area, so I was keen to see if it was still present this morning and fortunstely it was, on the second pond down from the Highfields end.

Red-crested Pochard - drake

It's a fairly scarce bird in Derbyshire but recorded annually at Carsington where birds can stay for some time. Most birds are thought to be of feral origin as it is widely bred in captivity.

Whatever its origins the males are a striking birds and it's great to see one locally.

Hawfinch - Cromford

 During the past week there has been occasional reports of just two Hawfinch by the entrance to Willersley Castle in Cromford. During a three hour watch this morning I managed brief, perched views, of just one bird but I, and two other local birders, were satisfied with that after a prolonged wait in sub-zero temperatures!

Fortunately there was other entertainment on the river with a pair of Dipper showing regularly and the male in song and a Kingfisher made several appearance which, in the bright sunlight, looking greener than I can recall seeing one before.

Hawfinch

Kingfisher

Dipper

Ring-necked Duck - Carsington Water

 A female Ring-necked Duck was found at Carsington Water on 17th November but wasn't seen again until it was refound at the Millfields end of the reservoir this morning. I saw it this afternoon in very wet overcast weather.

It's only the second record for Carsington and was showing well this afternoon, associating with a small group of Tufted Duck.

Ring-necked Duck - female

With another period of poor weather I haven't seen much else; a Little Egret was on the river at Chatsworth on Friday and I've seen a Pink-footed Goose with the Canada Geese at Bakewell several times. A female Pochard spent several days on the Whitworth Park Lake but left when the lake iced over.

At least 6 Hawfinch were aeen at Cromford on 18th November but I've not looked for them yet.

Knot at Middleton Moor

I've made several visits to Middleton Moor recently in the hope of seeing something a little different and yesterday I was rewarded with a lone Knot stood amongst the Lapwings. Plentiful on our coastal estuaries it's a scarce bird inland but unfortunately it didn't stay long. The Lapwing were disturbed and it left high to the south with them. 

Knot with Lapwing

Common Goldeneye in Darley Dale

 The persistent low cloud curtailed my trip to the moor this morning so I had a look around Darley Dale and was very surprised to see a pair of Goldeneye on the Whitworth Pond. I have never heard of a sighting there before and it's only about my fourth for the local area with the last at Chatsworth in 2013!

Common Goldeneye - male and female

The long staying female Teal was still present a couple of days ago but I didn't really look for it this morning, the photo below is from the end of October.

Eurasian Teal - female

More birds have been arriving with good numbers of Fieldfare joining the Redwing in the last week. My first Water Rail of the autumn was calling at Long Meadows (by the Care Home) in Darley Dale at the end of October.

There has been a widespread influx of Hawfinch, particularly to southern Britain but there were two over Beeley Moor on 26th October and a single there on 1st November with up to 9 at Brackenfield Church by Ogston and several at Carsington so it's a bird to look out for.

First Brambling of the autumn

I saw my first Brambling of the autumn on Monday (14th ) at Middleton Moor but since then I have seen several more. After a day of rain on Wednesday there was a large movement of Redwing over Beeley Moor on Thursday with over 3,000 birds counted in the morning and with them were several Brambling as well as small groups of Lesser Redpoll, which have been scarce recently. This morning I had three more Brambling on Bent Lane whilst looking for a Ring Ouzel which had been seen there yesterday, unfortunately it was misty so the photos are not the best. 

Brambling male and female

I called in at Middleton Moor yesterday afternoon and was pleased to find an adult Caspian Gull in with about 420 Lesser Black-backed Gulls and two adult Yellow-legged Gulls.

Caspian Gull - adult

I've been hoping for a Yellow-browed Warbler following a large influx on the coast and then birds being widely reported inland with 1 or perhaps 2 at Carsington Water and one near Ogston, but no look so far. Although birds are probably still filtering inland with an incredible 7 having been trapped at a ringing site in Rutland to the south of us here.

Whooper Swan - Middleton Moor

 My first Whooper Swan of the autumn dropped on to Middleton Moor this morning but didn't stay long before flying off to the west.

Whooper Swan

A flock of 21 Goosander were also present at dawn and presumably roosted but soon departed as did a noisy flock of 166 Greylag Geese.

Goosander

Great White Egret - Youlgrave

Hot on the heels of Great White Egrets at Chatsworth and Middleton Moor, Pam and I came across another at Harthill Pond (New Dam) at Youlgrave today. They are definitely on the move and a record count of 8 at Audenshaw Reservoir, Manchester at the weekend suggests it might be to the North West.

Great White Egret

More thrushes about today with at least 80 in conifers in Matlock Forest and the flock included my first Fieldfare of the autumn. There was also a nice group of 10 Common Crossbill, which are the first I've seen for several weeks.

For those concerned about the potential development of Matlock Forest there is a meeting of the Save Matlock Forest Group on 22nd October at the Whitworth at 7pm. They have also produced a website with details about the campaign to stop the construction of 75 holiday lodges in Farley Moor which you can find here.

There was a decent passage of birds moving up the Cathole by Harewood Moor at the weekend with Wood Pigeons, Redwings and finches on the move. The number of birds attracted some predators with both adult and juvenile Goshawk and my first Merlin of the year, which showed several times as it chased Meadow Pipits.

Eurasian Goshawk - adult female

Merlin - rather distant female

Red Grouse on the Triangle and Golden Plover arrival

 A had a single Red Grouse on the Triangle yesterday and then saw two flying near Wraggs Quarry and I thni three birds is now the total for Beeley Moor with perhaps a couple of pairs on East Moor. I think the bird in the photograph below is a juvenile with its rather dark plumage and lack of pale edges to the flanks. So the positive news is that they are still breeding, but raising a single yougster is unlikely to sustain the population. I have seen them crossing Harland Edge so there is some interchange with the East Moor birds.

A recent taxanomic decision by the International Ornithological Congress has elevated the Red Grouse back to full species status Lagopus scotica from its previous position as a race of Willow Grouse, Lagopus lagopus. With the likely future treatment of Scottish Crossbill as a race of Common Crossbill it will be the Uk's only endemic species.

Red Grouse

A nice flock of 22 Golden Plover with a Lapwing flock on Syda Lane are my first of the autumn.

Golden Plover

In the hope of seeing a few more wildfowl and waders I've made several visits to Middleton Moor recently and this morning I was rewarded with two Great White Egrets dropping in. They preened for about an hour then continued west. Seemingly only the second time the species has been recorded at Middleton Moor.

Great White Egret

 

First Redwings of the Autumn

 Another cool morning witnessed the arrival of small numbers of thrushes and finches over Beeley Moor coming up the Cathole from Holymoorside.

At least 7 Redwing were seen but there were also Song Thrushes moving as well which made identification difficult in very overcast conditions. Fortunately some of the thrushes were calling and we were able to confirm our identification with sonograms from the recordings.

Redwing (upper) and Song Thrush over Beeley Moor

Great White Egret - Chatsworth

 Walking along the river towards Chatsworth this morning a heron sized bird flew past towards Beeley and I was surprised to see that it was a Great White Egret. It circled over Beeley Village, gaining height, then drifted off towards Rowsley. I was even more surprised therefore 45 minutes later to see either the same bird, or possibly another sat in the conifer tree just south of Chatsworth House.

It looked like it was feeding in the channel running from the bottom of the cascade steps as it flew down several times before returning to the same tree and with a Grey Heron on one occasion.

We saw two Little Egrets along the river so two species of egret in the Peak District is still good going despite numbers of both species continuing to increase in the south of the County.

Great White Egret - Chatsworth - top right in the upper photo

Common Pochard - Bakewell

 Yesterday I had seen a juvenile Herring Gull with the Black-headed Gulls in Bakewell, which is a scarce bird locally, but hadn't got my camera with me si I returned this morning hoping it had come back with the other gulls. There was no sign although the gulls often turn up late morning, so it may still appear.

There was however a Common Pochard with three Tufted Duck which made the journey worthwhile, This is only my second record of Common Pochard although they can get several hundred at Carsington in the winter.

It has a very pale mantle which is suggestive of a male but lacks the adult males red head and eye and black chest so probably a juvenile male.

Common Pochard - probably juvenile/1st winter male

For the record, this is the first winter Herring Gull, taken with my phone.

Herring Gull

Red-backed Shrike - Bakewell

Belated news of a juvenile Red-backed Shrike photographed (below) in a Bakewell Garden on 13th September confirms that migrant birds can, and do, turn up in unlikely locations! The bird was looked for in the following days but wasn't seen again.

Red-backed Shrike - juvenile

A former breeding bird in the distant past with records from Matlock and Cromford with the last nest reported from Cromford in 1942. 

Since then there was one recorded at Lumsdale in July  in 1951, Masson Hill in August 1960 and Taddington in October 1976 so it could be a while before the next record.