Caspian Gull new for the Darley Dale area

The recent heavy rains have caused flooding in some of the fields bordering the river Derwent and the Wye. Simon has been checking the area by Four Lane Ends opposite Milner 4x4 between Darley Dale and Darley Bridge today and found a 1st winter Caspian Gull. 
This area has always been good for gulls when high river levels cause flooding in the field but no one can remember seeing so many large gulls on the fields. Today there were at least 300 large gulls, mainly Lesser Black-backed but with many Herring also plus at least two 1st winter Great Black-backed Gulls which are the first I can recall seeing locally.
Inevitably the gulls are fairly distant so a telescope is needed to view them. Periodically they take to the air with much calling which I can here from my house!

The Caspian Gull is a scarce visitor to Derbyshire with around 50 records per year and mainly at the larger bodies of water where gulls roost during the winter months such as Ogston, Pools Brook and Carsington.

Caspian Gull 1st winter (centre bird on two upper photos and left hand bird on lower)

Identification of Caspian Gull is as much based on structure as it is on plumage features. Compared to Herring Gull it is longer legged, smaller headed and longer winged giving it a more elegant appearance. The bill is also generally longer and slimmer. In 1st winter plumage the head is white and the mantle generally looks paler the 1st winter Herring also the greater coverts are less spangled often looking darker than those of Herring.

Great Black-backed Gull 1st winter

Simon also thought he had seen an adult Caspian Gull so there could be other birds of interest amongst this flock. A great local find in any case and well picked out amongst the very similar Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

First Chiffchaff - Rowsley

Ken saw the first Chiffchaff of the year today at Rowsley which must be one of the earliest dates locally. 
The first Curlew was seen on the moor on 22nd February and I managed at least 4 birds on the 26th.
It definitely felt Spring like at the end of last week with day time temperatures of 17℃. 
I caught a Pine Beauty in the moth trap which has been very scarce in the last few years.

Chiffchaff (Ken Smith)

Doug Aston had a Cattle Egret on Harland Edge on 3rd February which was the first for the area as far as I'm aware but surely there will be more.

Expecting the first Wheatear next!

A decent day for raptors

With a clear sky for a change I spent most of the day in the hills and was rewarded with a superb Peregrine, which flew close past my viewpoint, but also the first signs of Sparrowhawk display with both a male and female circling with characteristic flickering wings. I've made a composite photo to show the orange throated male with the female.
Last, but not least a female Goshawk circled over the hillside looking decidedly meaner than the Sparrowhawks and offering a rare, for me, sight of the upperwing.

Peregrine

Sparrowhawk (female on left, male on right)

Goshawk adult female

First significant snowfall of the winter

There was not a flake of snow left on the A6 in Darley Dale this morning but just a 100m higher around Beeley Moor there was a good 6cm of fresh snow. Birds were few and far between but this Robin appreciated the food put out for him.
Still plenty of Common Crossbills on Flash Lane with a single flock of over 50 yesterday but I couldn't find them this morning. Several Brambling but the large flock on Bent Lane appears to have dispersed now.

Robin

Flash Lane in the snow

First Dipper of the New Year

Although New Years Day started off overcast and very windy the sky partially cleared late morning and I had decent views of a Dipper feeding on the River Wye north of Rowsley. A small party of Mandarin flew down the river with a single drake Goosander. 
At least a dozen Common Crossbill and several parties of Lesser Redpoll still on Flash Lane so not a bad start to the year.

Dipper

Barn Owl - Beeley Moor

I am only aware of a single pair of Barn Owls on the edge of Beeley Moor, they successfully fledged two young this year and this is probably one of those birds.  
Hunting around the moor appears to be undertaken almost exclusively in the dark making them difficult to observe but this bird appeared mid-afternoon today providing a rare opportunity to get a photo, against a background of dark coniferous woodland.
They struggle to feed when the moorland and its fringes are snow covered for prolonged periods and this perhaps limits their occurrence around the moor.

Barn Owl

Waxwings in Youlgrave - an early Christmas present

In the early autumn it looked like this was going to be a Waxwing winter with some large arrivals on the Scottish east coast and smaller flocks further south in England but the arrivals quickly dried up and there were few inland records as autumn turned to winter.
So it was a real surprise to receive a call from Ken this morning to say he was watching three birds in Youlgrave feeding on berries by the Health Centre entrance. I didn't manage to get there until mid-afternoon and couldn't find them then, although there were still plenty of berries with Blackbirds and occasionally both Redwing and Fieldfare visiting the Rowen tree.
They may still be in the area and plenty of trees with berries so it's worth keeping an eye out and perhaps checking some of the other areas that have had Waxwing in the past.

Waxwing © Ken Smith

Common Buzzard and Pink-footed Geese

During the autumn and winter earthworms are an important part of the Common Buzzards diet and they can be seen standing and walking, or even running sometimes, in fields in search of their prey. They often sit on the dry stone walls or, as in this case, a fence post from which they can watch their chosen field. The pale iris on this bird indicates that it is not yet an adult.

Common Buzzard

Several parties of Pink-footed Geese have overflown the area during the past week some still going SE, presumably to the Wash but other skeins have been seen heading back NW as at least 300 did this morning in 2 large skeins. There used to be a distinct gap between birds passing over SE in the autumn and early winter and returning NW in the late winter but that distinction is now rather blurred perhaps linked to the timing of food availability around the Humber and Wash.

Pink-footed Geese

Mandarin in winter

The number of Mandarin Duck decrease dramatically on the local rivers during the autumn. For example during my last couple of visits to Chatsworth I haven't seen any on the River Derwent and it appears that after completing their autumn moult birds move on to enclosed waters such as Linacre Reservoir north of Chesterfield and perhaps further afield to Clumber Park. 
It was a surprise therefore to hear of a large group on the small lakes at Ladygrove in Two Dales. I went up today in rather poor weather and counted at least 60 birds on the upper lake. I'm not a regular visitor to Ladygrove so can't say whether this is a regular gathering or indeed whether this is a particularly large count so it will be interesting to see how the numbers fluctuate over the rest of the winter. 
Note that it is possible to view them from the main footpath which runs parallel to and well above the lake without disturbing them.

Mandarin Duck

Stonechat on frosted Gorse

Whilst it remained misty and murky all day in the valley around Darley Dale the moors enjoyed blue skies for the morning but becoming overcast from mid-day. There was a heavy frost overnight with the first icy roads of the winter resulting in a sadly predictable car crash on the Bar Road. Birdwise the Common Crossbill flock is still around the 70 / 40 Acre plantations and numbering around 50 birds this morning. There are still Brambling on Bent Lane, I saw about 350 this evening. A flock of around 500 Lesser Redpoll is difficult to pin down and includes several Mealy (Common) Redpoll although I have yet to see any.
This male Stonechat is one of a handful that are still on the moor and looking rather festive in the early morning light, doubtless they will move in to the valleys with the first snow.

Stonechat - male

Brambling influx

The number of Brambling in the area has continued to increase, as have the places where I have seen them locally. Which now include the area around Chatsworth House including the woods around Swiss Lake and the Calton Lees Garden Centre, Coombs Road in Bakewell, Whitworth Park in Darley Dale with several hundred on Flash Lane and at least 500 on Bents Lane this morning. However, the largest flock I have heard of is 1500 at Matlock Moor at the Cuckoostone Lane end. This is possibly the largest single flock recorded in the County although The Birds of Derbyshire records 5700 which were counted flying in to roost in Shinningcliff Wood in December 1967.

Brambling - male

The flock of Common Crossbill is still present on Flash Lane but are only seen intermittently and often are dispersed in to smaller groups, but I counted over 40 this morning around 70 Acre Plantation where there is also a large mobile flock of Lesser Redpoll which included 2 Mealy Redpoll on Monday.

Common Crossbill - the topmost male looks rather large billed although it is slightly open

Goosander - Bakewell

I quite often see one or two Goosander on the river at Bakewell but ten this morning is a record count for me. Two males and a mix of adult females and first winter birds. 
One of the males had a strong pink tinge to the breast whilst the other was yellowish. 
As is usually the case on the river at Bakewell they are less wary than elsewhere.

Goosander - males

Goosander

Hooded Crow - Rowsley

Todays star bird was a Hooded Crow picked up by Ken over Rowsley mid-morning which followed the Wye valley NE and was last seen over Haddon Hall. 

It's only the second I have seen in the local area following the bird seen in March last year. There was a small influx of birds on the coast in late October with 10 being seen at Flamborough and a few singles at Spurn but there have been singles at Bardon in Leicestershire and Wintersett, West Yorks in the past week but no other Derbyshire records as far as I am aware.

Hooded Crow

Good numbers of Brambling around at the moment with at least 150 on Flash Lane this morning and around 40 at Chatsworth yesterday, but surprisingly no Crossbill today. 

First snow of the winter brings more thrushes

Much cooler this morning and the first snow fall on Beeley, but not cold enough for it to settle. The cooler weather brought approximately 500 hundreds Fieldfare on to Flash Lane which was great to see, and hear! Also my first local Brambling of the autumn.

Fieldfare 

More unusual than the Fieldfare, a Stoat ran down one of the drainage ditches. Difficult to know what the population is locally but I only see 3 or 4 a year so I regard them as scarce, but doubtless under recorded. 
It was difficult to photograph as they move so quickly and the light was very poor.

Stoat

A late Small Copper and more on crossbills

I suspect this will be my last Small Copper of the year, sat in the sunshine on the edge of Beeley Moor yesterday, rather worn now. 

Small Copper

I also saw the Common Crossbill again in 70 Acre Plantation, about 40 all feeding in the same conifers. It was interesting to watch the crossbills feeding, some birds removed the cone completely and flew a short distance with it to the centre of the tree, presumably where they can support it to remove the seeds. 
I think the tree in the photo is a Sitka Spruce and there is an interesting article on the RSPB web site which looks at the impact of the introduction of Sitka Spruce on wintering crossbill in the UK over the the crossbills normal food plant, the Norway Spruce.
I like this photo, showing two female type Common Crossbill with a Siskin and Lesser Redpoll. 

Common Crossbill with Siskin and Lesser Redpoll