Siskin in the garden

Mentioned yesterday that there are plenty of Siskin about now, and up to a dozen regularly visiting the garden feeder. Some of the males are starting to look very smart as the pale feathers tips, hiding the black and green plumage, are worn away.

Siskin - male

Male Sparrowhawk - Darley Dale

A rather distant photo of a male Sparrowhawk but it shows the lovely blue-grey head and orangey face and barring on the underparts. Otherwise a fairly quiet day, but plenty of Siskin around now and coming regularly to my garden feeders.

Sparrowhawk - male

Whooper Swans - Middleton Moor

Six adult Whooper Swans at Middleton Moor this morning. Looking in the log it looks like they have been present since the 21st February. They drifted around the eastern edge of No 4 lagoon and showed well from the hide, calling occasionally. Also 2 Shelduck there today.

Whooper Swans

Shelduck

Brown Hares active at last

I've mentioned before that, locally at least, the Brown Hares disappear in to the woodlands over the winter and I therefore have very few sightings between November and February but with the Spring like weather they have returned to the fields during the last week and several animals put on a fine show in this mornings sunshine.
First Curlew calling on the moor this morning!

Brown Hare

Long-tailed Tit

Great to watch a party of Long-tailed Tits in the sunshine today. This particular bird kept coming back to a small Hawthorn bush and was happily feeding no more than 5m away. Tricky getting a photo with no obscuring branches though.

Long-tailed Tit

Juvenile Shag Bakewell

Went in to Bakewell this morning looking for a male Goosander I had seen on Friday where they feed the Mallard and gulls. No sign of the Goosander, so I walked up river a bit and was very surprised to find this juvenile Shag on the narrow island by the A6 opposite Lumford Cottages.  Looks like it's starting to get some green adult scapulars. 
I think there are still three at Linacre Reservoir, which are the last of the original 8, which turned up there last November. The other 5 went to Carr Vale in December and there was still one there in January so it's possible that this bird is one of the original 8.
As I returned to the town centre the male Goosander was out in the feeding area.

Shag - juvenile

Goosander - male

Short-eared Owl back on Beeley Moor

I was surprised this morning to come across this Short-eared Owl hunting in the bright sunshine on Beeley Moor. I put 'back' on Beeley Moor in the blog post title but it's not clear if they have ever left. They were definitely very nocturnal in their hunting towards the end of January but I have had odd reports of owls being seen in fading light since then.
I can only assume that the continual rain yesterday has forced it to hunt during the daylight so I was pleased to see that it successfully took at least one vole.

Short-eared Owl

The Water Vole by Christine Gregory

My copy of local author Christine Gregory's new book, The Water Vole arrived through the letter box this morning. 
It looks superb with 240 pages of text and colour photographs, nearly all taken by Christine, in a similar format to her publication Brown Hares in the Derbyshire Dales.
In addition to covering the lives and ecology of the Water Vole there is a large section entitled Derbyshire's Water Voles with many photographs taken locally. 
Sadly the book also maps the decline of this iconic resident of our waterways, both Nationally and specifically in Derbyshire. I've mentioned previously my own observation on the Water Voles disappearance from many local sites in the last few years and as Chris Packham writes in his foreword to the book;
 'What would life be like without the characteristic 'plop', that little cork-pulling wet plop, which, if we are lucky , we can still hear as we wend along a wilder stream?' 
What indeed!
I'm looking forward to reading the book in the coming weeks, and well done Christine!

Starling murmuration - Middleton Moor

My first visit this year to Middleton Moor. Starling numbers were quite low, I estimated 6-8K birds, but what they lacked in number they certainly made up for with the murmuration. They circled the reed bed for at least 15 to 20 minutes before finally dropping in to roost.
The first birds arrived about 16:30 and they dropped in to roost at about 17:15.

Starling murmuration

Common Buzzard - first display

First signs of the changing seasons this week with Buzzards displaying. Typically circling and then closing their wings in a steep swooping dive before opening their wings, often with legs dangling, as this bird. The process often accompanied by the characteristic mewing calls.
A Chiffchaff calling in Bakewell will be one that has over wintered, benefitting from the mild winter, rather than a migrant at this time.
I've posted a short write up on a trip to Holland last weekend on my Wildlife Diaries Blog.

Common Buzzard - display

Moorhen - Cromford Canal

In recent weeks I've walked the Cromford Canal, not in one go but in three sections. I was mainly searching for Water Vole but without any success. 
It is worrying that, at least from my records, the Water Vole has disappeared, or if not disappeared certainly declined in number at many of its local strongholds.
At least the Moorhens appear to be doing well and I counted at least 10 pairs of Little Grebe along the canal. 
Surprisingly, I've never posted Moorhen on the blog so that's now rectified.

Moorhen

Mountain Hare in the snow

I have wanted to photograph Mountain Hares in the snow for a long while, but it's not that straight forward. 
You need snow off course, which this winter has been in short supply, but too much snow and the roads are closed, too little snow and it defeats the objective.
If the snow is too deep it is very difficult to cross the moors plus I'm carrying my photographic equipment. Today I took both 500mm and 300mm although in the end I only used the 500mm.
Low cloud can also be a problem, during the winter visibility can be reduced to a few metres on the moor for days on end so you need to watch the weather forecast.
Finally, and it really goes without saying, you need the Mountain Hares. 
As usual I went up to the Bleaklow area off the Snake Pass. Driving up I thought the snow had all but disappeared but once past the Snake Pass Inn there was plenty on the tops.
There were plenty of hare foot prints in the snow but it took quite a bit of walking before I located one that was prepared to sit still with me close-by.
Was it worth the effort...a definate yes!

Mountain Hare

Lesser Redpoll - Bakewell

Just left the snow in the French Alps and back to snow in the Peak District! Whilst I was away Martin Derbyshire sent me a couple of nice photos of Lesser Redpoll coming to his garden feeders in Bakewell. They like Niger seeds but despite my best efforts I've never attracted them to my garden.

Lesser Redpoll (©Martin Derbyshire)

Goshawk in the Peak District

With a brighter start to the morning I decided on a longer walk in the Peak District, it was generally quiet apart from a few Buzzards but this second calendar (2cy) year Goshawk made the trek worthwhile. 
Unless there is a hidden pair of Red Kite somewhere the Goshawk vies with Merlin for Derbyshire's rarest breeding bird of prey and like that species they are mainly in the Peak District.
The 2014 Derbyshire Bird Report records 16 sites in the Peak District for Goshawk and just 10 for Merlin which reflects my impression that the Goshawk is fairing better than the Merlin at present.
The Goshawk is easy to identify in this plumage as the Sparrowhawk has no equivalent plumage and all have barred underparts at this time of year. The strength of the rufous colour on the breast and underwing coverts of 2cy Goshawks is variable and this one is at the stronger coloured end of the spectrum.
I've produced a short article on Northern Goshawk identification and ageing on my Wildlife Diaries blog with more photos if anyone is interested. 
A couple of people have mentioned that they hadn't realised that if you click on a photo you can get a larger image, so that's something to try if you weren't aware.
I'm in the French Alps again next week so updates will be on the Wildlife Diaries blog unless I'm sent any interesting photos taken locally.

Goshawk 2cy (juvenile)

Norwegian Fallow Deer - distribution

Managed to find a small group of the Norwegian Fallow Deer this morning near Stanton. Two stags with fine sets of antlers and three younger males. The antlers look slightly orange at this time of year.
I've done an approximate distribution map of these Black or Norwegian Fallow Deer and I'd be interested to hear of any sightings outside this area or where I have put the question marks.
I've never seen any of these deer east of the River Derwent but have seen them either side of the River Wye near Haddon Hall and I think they must cross the Wye somewhere in this area. I was uncertain of their occurrence in Manners Wood until Martin Derbyshire caught several animals on camera traps. They are also now seen in the Coombs Road area and I wonder if they have moved into this area relatively recently.

Norwegian Fallow Deer

Approximate distribution of Norwegian Fallow Deer