Displaying Mandarin

Mandarin leave the rivers in the autumn and winter on small lakes or ponds. Linacre Reservoir appears to be a favourite but they can also be found on smaller ponds closer to home such as those in Ladygrove or Ashford Lake where I photographed these birds displaying, in a group of about 30 yesterday.

Mandarin Duck - drake

Waxwings are still the main attraction of the winter with around 200 birds at Hassop Station on the Monsal Trail feeding on Hawthorn berries. There have been occasional sightings of 1 or 2 birds in Darley Dale but no larger groups.

The Hawfinch are back at Cromford with 5 birds seen fairly regularly.

Hoping for some better weather in the New Year!

Waxwing numbers increasing in Darley Dale

 The first two Waxwing were joined by 5 more on Thursday and they were there again this morning, but numbers jumped up this afternooon with at least 22 birds present in the same area opposite the Whitworth.Either sat at the top of the tall Lime trees and occasionally flying up to catch flies or deeding on a Rowan bush.

They all flew off north around 14:45, presumably going to roost.

Waxwing

Waxwing in Darley Dale

 Since returning from France last week I've been checking the berry bushes Waxwing have used in the past and was successful this morning when I found two birds feeding on Rowan berries on Columbell Way, opposite the Whitworth. 

Almost immediately they flew up in to the large Lime trees by the A6 and sat there for a while where I was able to get a record photo. I looked away and they disappeared but hopefully they will return to feed on the tree which still has plenty of berries.

Surprisingly, the female Teal is still on the Whitworth Pond.

I've checked the flooded field for gulls, plenty of Black-headed, single Common but just 3 Lesser Black-backed so far.

Waxwing

Green Woodpecker - Beeley Village

Back after two weeks away, and it looks like I've missed the Waxwings so no photos I'm afraid. Still, there's a good chance that some more will turn up I think.

Apart from the Waxwings I don't think I've missed too much although a Great Grey Shrike has taken up residence at Ramsley reservoir which would be nice to see, if it would just come a little closer.

Walked round Chatsworth yesterday which produced a Green Woodpecker at the back of Beeley village, only my third record this year. It's a surprisingly scarce bird locally and I just seem to pick up occasional wandering birds.

Green Woodpecker - probably adult female, with the black moustache

Waxwings at last!

 After an absence from the area of five years, Waxwings have finally arrived!

Seven were seen at the entrance to Peak Village, Rowsley and a further nine were seen flying from Churchtown towards the A6 in Darley Dale.

There are still plenty of berries in the area so hopefully they will stay for a while.

Common Kingfisher at Chatsworth

It's been a fairly quiet week for me but the frequent rainy days has given me the time to write up my recent trip to Georgia. That said it was a beautiful day today so Pam and I walked to Chatsworth, nothing special on the bird front but we had great views of a Kingfisher on the river in front of the House.

A skein of 52 Pink-footed Geese flew south over the house yesterday.

Common Kingfisher - male judging by the all black bill

Common Crossbill - Matlock Forest

 Although I've managed to see Common Crossbills in every month this year the numbers were generally very low until the autumn. I was only seeing 3 or 4 birds regularly through the summer and it was not possible to confirm whether they bred, although I have done so in the past. 

In August numbers increased and I had a flock of 30 and there have been regular reports of 30-40 since then, primarily in Fourty Acre and Seventy Acre Plantations. It's difficult to be certain of the numbers because they are not always together and are not easy to count unless you get a clear view of a flock in flight. I got photos of a group of 12 this morning although as usual they were at the very top of the conifers.

Common Crossbill

There was some passage of Pink-footed Geese over the moor this morning, I had three skeins totalling 220 birds but there have been reports of larger numbers elsewhere in the County.

Pink-footed Geese.

I saw several Brambling this morning but no large flocks yet and still no Waxwing although there have been up to 16 at in the Crosspool area of Sheffield so not too far away now.

Caspian Gull - Upperloads

 It seems to be all gulls at the moment with another Caspian Gull today in a ploughed field on Syda Lane,

The field was proving quite an attraction as there were also around 40 Lesser Black-backed, 3 Herring and a Common Gull plus a nice party of 67 Golden Plover and around 40 Lapwing.

It's possible that th Caspian Gull is the same bird that I saw in Darley Dale last week I guess.

There were several hundred Fieldfare on the moor and the first signs of Woodpigeons on the move with over 1000 birds counted flying SW.

Caspian Gull

I picked up some more news on the Great Northern Diver reported at Chatsworth, what must surely have been the same bird was phptographed on the Derwent in Belper yesterday. So it had almost certainly drifted down river through Darley Dale and Matlock. An amazing record.

Yellow-legged Gull - Chatsworth

Following last weeks Caspian I came across an adult Yellow-legged Gull today in the fields just north of Chatsworth House. It was present for about 30 minutes with around 50 Lesser Black-backed Gulls before the flock was disturbed and they moved off to the south. 

Adult Yellow-legged and Lesser Black-backed Gulls

I didn't see much else but a juvenile Great Northern Diver was reportedly on the river south of the House on Monday (30th October) which I would have loved to have seen.

Caspian Gull - Darley Dale

 As usual the flood waters between Darley Dale and Darley Bridge at Four Lane Ends have attracted large numbers of gulls this week. I've spent several hours checking through them each day this week but apart from one or two Herring and up to a dozen Common Gulls I hadn't managed to find anything else until this morning when I picked out an adult Caspian Gull.

Caspian Gull - adult

The number of gulls on the flooded fields were fairly static until this morning with around 500 Lesser Black-backed and 600 Black-headed but there were more birds this morning with 700-800 Lesser Black-backed and i estimated over 1000 Black-headed.

Lesser Black-backed and Black-headed Gulls on the flooded fields

The water level is steadily falling so without further rain the fields may dry out in the next couple of days.

A female Eurasian Teal has been resident in the Whitworth for about 10 days now, it's the first I can recall there.

I had a Northern Wheatear on the moor on the 17th October which I suspect will be my last. 

Northern Wheatear - female

There have been several sightings of Hen Harriers on the moor with both 'ringtails' (females or immatures) and an adult male so hopefully they will remain for the winter.

I was away for the big Redwing arrival on 9th October when several thousand were seen over Beeley Moor and 21k were counted over Ogston. There are still good numbers of Redwings around with plenty of Fieldfare and upto a dozen Brambling have been seen.

Return to the moors

 My first visit to the moors following 3 weeks in Georgia, mainly watching thousands of migrating birds of prey - hopefully I'll write up the trip on my wildlife diaries blog in the near future.

A few changes on the moor with lots of Meadow Pipits moving SW along with finch parties, mainly Goldfinch but with some nice flocks of Lesser Redpoll and a scattering of Chaffinch and Linnet.

Whinchat - juvenile

A juvenile Whinchat moving around the moor with a small party of Stonechat was nice to see and now quite a late date for them. A couple of Northern Wheatear on a formerly burnt area of moor was a bit more expected.

Northern Wheatear - female

Several Common Crossbill and more Lesser Redpoll in the 40 Acre area. A single skein of Pink-footed Geese and a lone Brambling were a reminder that autumn is well underway now and the winter thrushes should be arriving soon.

Brown Hares on show

 Good to see decent numbers of Brown Hares in the fields bordering Beeley Moor, they appear to spend most of the day asleep in the grass so presumably feeding at night.

Brown Hare

An small influx of Common Crossbill and Siskin in recent days. I had 30 crossbill in 40 Acre Plantation having only seen 2 or 3 during the summer months.

Meadow Pipit numbers are starting to build up as birds start to move south having bred to the north of us.

Autumn approaching

 It's starting to feel a bit more autumnal, the local Swifts have departed in the last few days and there are signs of other birds moving with Wheatears starting to appear on the moor. It's always nice to see birds with a background of flowering heather like this bird by the Triangle today.

Northern Wheatear - juvenile

i also had distant views of a female Merlin, shimmering slightly in the heat haze!

Merlin - adult female

An Osprey crossed the moor yesterday and what seems likely to be the same bird turned up at Carsington about 30 minutes later.

Whinchat - Elton Common

 Another interesting day, I started off in the conifers along Flash Lane and was both surprised and pleased to hear the Turtle Dove purring. It's a month since I last heard it and this is the latest I've ever recorded it. Seems unlikely it will return next year, but that's what I thought last year, fingers crossed! 

Whilst on the edge of the wood I heard a Common Greenshank calling, it called for perhaps 30 seconds and I thought it may have been circling the flooded field by the sharp corner but there was no sign of it when I checked.

This afternoon I went to the Elton Common area to look at the gulls which are starting to increase in number. I saw several hundred Lesser Black-backed but wasn't able to get anywhere near them so will have to wait until they favour a field closer to the road.

Whilst cycling the lanes I saw several Redstart, a Stonechat and a single Whinchat. It looks like a moulting adult female and it's the first time I've seen one at Elton Common and my first of the autumn.

Whinchat - female

Common Scoter - Ashford Lake

After yesterday's downpour my expectations were not high for today but I got off to a good start with a Merlin which flew from the Rough Track towards Flash Lane, my first of the 'autumn', followed by two reeling Grasshopper Warblers at the Triangle.Then a group of at least 5 Common Crossbill at 40 Acre Plantation which were my first for a couple of weeks.

But the best was yet to come, Pam fancied a walk in Bakewell so I suggested a walk up to Ashford Lake, which I hadn't visited for a week or so. Looking down on the lake I saw a Little Grebe and several Mandarin and what I first took to be a Coot but it looked very black. It was a drake Common Scoter, my first on the patch.

Common Scoter - male

They are recorded with increasing frequency on Carsington and Ogston and even up on Middleton Moor but I wasn't expecting one locally.

They are nocturnal migrants and cross the country from Morecambe Bay to the North Sea, usually in the spring but can turn up anytime.