Marsh Harrier - Harland Edge

Watched a cracking juvenile Marsh Harrier sparring with a Buzzard along Harland Edge yesterday. 
It's only about the 4th I've seen over the moor. It's a mystery to me why, when the number of Marsh Harrier have increased dramatically in England over the past 20 years, they are as scarce, if not scarcer on the moors now than two decades ago.

Marsh Harrier - juvenile

In search of Twite in Derbyshire

The Twite has probably never been a common bird on the Derbyshire uplands but changes to agricultural practices in the hay meadows bordering the moors has almost led to their extinction as a breeding bird in the County. The population in the southern Pennines is estimated to have decreased by 80 per cent between 1990 and 2000 according to the RSPB.
A seed-eater the Twite is reliant on seed from the traditional hay meadows to feed their young and it is thought that the loss of these food sources is one of the main reason for their decline.
A small population can still be found in the Doveholes area where birds are nesting in quarries and, through the support of the quarry operators and the RSPB, this small population is part of a long term study of the species. Since 2015 over 200 birds have been caught and fitted with a unique combination of coloured rings so that their movements can be monitored. This has shown that the majority move to the north Norfolk coast in the winter but some have gone to Wales and Northumberland.
I visited the area today and managed to see 8 individuals although according to Peter Walsh, one of the volunteers monitoring the population, this doesn't appear to have been a good breeding season with possibly only a single pair fledging young.
I've never seen Twite in the Beeley area although birds may cross the moor as they head to Norfolk. Three birds were seen in Wraggs Quarry last year so there is a chance of seeing them but would be easily overlooked unless the distinctive nasal call that gives the bird its name is heard.

Twite

Twite bearing colour rings

Osprey - Whitesprings Plantation

It's been a poor autumn for sightings of Osprey locally, both Ken and I have had just single sightings at Chatsworth and over Harland Edge last weekend but there have been birds present regularly at Ogston and Carr Vale with a few sightings at Carsington.
This morning a bird flew up from the Darley Dale direction to Whitesprings carrying a fish which it was doubtless planning to eat somewhere in the woodland. It was an adult and could be the same bird I saw doing the same thing last year in the same area. 
Whilst the likelihood of birds nesting locally is less than for the Red Kite it certainly wouldn't beyond the realms of possibility to see a pair nesting locally in the next few years which would be quite something.

Osprey over Whitesprings Plantation

Red Kite born and bred in the Peak District

I've speculated previously that the return of the Red Kite as a breeding bird in the Peak District has only been a question of when not if, and I can finally confirm that a pair has successfully fledged at least two young this summer. The photos below were taken today which is the first time I've seen them in the air.
It was probably around 1860 that the Red Kite finally became extinct as a breeding bird in the Peak District but since the late 1990's and the successful reintroduction programmes in England and Scotland the number recorded annually in Derbyshire has increased dramatically and birdwatchers have long speculated about its return as a breeding species in Derbyshire which, as previously reported, finally occurred last year at Kedleston Hall. 
I suspect, and hope that we will now see an upsurge in number locally with more pairs breeding in the future. 

Red Kite juvenile

Red Kite juveniles

Red Kite adult

Compared to the adult Red Kite the juvenile looks slightly shorter in both the wings and tail. All the feathers are the same age in the juvenile and have a very fresh appearance. Compare with the adult (above) which is moulting several inner primaries and central tail feathers giving it a rather tatty appearance.

Night-flowering Catchfly - Darley Dale

The first record for the County of Derbyshire in 16 years of the Night-flowering Catchfly (Silene noctiflora) has been found at the recently opened Darley Dale Medical Centre by birdwatcher come botanist Mick Lacey. 
The plant has doubtless arrived in the re-seeding of the area around the car park. The site staff have kindly provided a protective cage so the plant is easily found on the left of the car park by the green electricity box.
As the name suggests the flowers are generally closed in the day time but open and release a scent at night to attract pollinating moths. 

Night-flowering Catchfly in its protective cage

Protective cage containing the Night-flowering Catchfly