Osprey at Chatsworth

 Definite autumn feeling as I set out this morning with a fresh NE wind blowing. I decided to have a look at Chatsworth before heading to the moor and was rewarded with an Osprey sat on a dead tree by the river with what looked like a small fish. There is a lot of water flowing down the river at the moment, consequently the water is very brown so the Osprey did well to catch something.

It wasn't happy to stay by the river with walkers passing but flew a short distance to the tree by the house to finish its meal.

Osprey

A party of 5 juvenile Goosander was a welcome sight and perhaps an indication that there has been some breeding success locally. The usual flock of Mandarin (32) feeding on the grass and a single Sand Martin still visiting a nest burrow which is very late but quite a few House Martin and Swallows were more expected.

Goosander - the white area between the eye and gape indicating that they are juveniles

Up on the moor a party of 8 Stonechat had a Winchat with them and my first group of 7 Snipe heading up on to the moor for the winter.

Whinchat

Mixed feeding flocks

With the breeding season over and very few birds now singing the local woodlands can appear almost birdless at times. Most of the small woodland birds, passerines, are now in mixed feeding flocks so unless you come across one of these groups you're not likely to see many birds.

The benefits of mixed feeding flocks are thought to be two fold, there is better protection against  predators with so many birds on the lookout and listening, and each bird can afford to be less vigilant and focus more on feeding. Secondly their feeding is more efficient as the flock is more likely to encounter a good feeding area but because they are in mixed flocks the competition for the same food type is reduced compared with a single species flock.

Spotted Flycatcher

Over the past few weeks I've encountered some large mixed flocks, some numbering several hundred birds with a mix of finches, mainly Siskin and Chaffinch, and warblers, predominantly Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers but also Blackcap, and tits, with Blue, Great and Coal plus a few Long-tailed. Other species mixed with the flocks include Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Spotted Flycatcher, Goldcrest and even Tree Pipit.

Tree Pipit - juvenile

So if you come across a mixed feeding flock its worth stopping for a while to see what species are in it. Each winter several rarities are found that have become attached to one of these mixed feeding flocks.

Red Grouse - GOING, GOING, almost GONE

There could be no glorious (or inglorious!) 12th on Beeley or the Eastern Moors with the Red Grouse perilously close to disappearing altogether. This year I've seen just two pairs on Beeley Moor, which I visit regularly and only a single pair on East Moor. There could be one or two more birds on East Moor which I tend to visit a little less frequently than Beeley and don't cover all areas.

Red Grouse - male

One pair I have seen regularly on Beeley and they should have grown young by now but I last saw them on 20th July with no sign of any young birds then. 

Why the numbers have declined so seriously is a mystery to me. Twenty years ago I regularly saw groups of 15 to 20 birds and in the 60's and 70's I have been told of flocks of a 100 birds.

It must be at least 10 years since there was any shooting on the moor and it's an achievement to see one now let alone shoot one. 

There are foxes and badgers around the moor but I have not noticed any significant increase in number over the last couple of decades.

Raven numbers continue to increase in the area but they are still only present in small numbers around the moor. A few years ago a large group of Carrion Crow numbering over a hundred birds were seen regularly on the moor and whilst there are still large numbers around they appear to spend most of their time around the fields on Screetham Lane and only venture on to the moors in small numbers.

Is it climate change? Climatic changes over the last few decades have been put forward as a reason for the reduction in Merlin numbers in parts of Yorkshire with nesting records showing that the Merlins were gradually moving to higher altitudes and could explain why the Merlin has disappeared from both Beeley and East Moor where there is no opportunity to seek out significantly higher ground.

The moorlands themselves are changing with a decrease in heather and increase in bracken, and birch trees are taking hold in many areas perhaps in part due to dryer conditions.

The Red Grouse can still be found in good numbers a short distance to the north in the High Peak. In many of these areas the moorlands are still managed for grouse shooting and the numbers in some of these areas may be unnaturally high, partly through the removal of all predators, sadly including the illegal killing of birds of prey, but I have even fewer sightings of harriers and other raptors over the moors than I do of Red Grouse.

The thought of Beeley and East Moor without Red Grouse is like fish without chips or salt without pepper, the moors and grouse belong together but I am pessimistic that it will remain so for much longer. I hope I'm wrong.

Wood Sandpiper - new for the area at Chatsworth Park

 I was very surprised this morning when i saw a medium sized wader by the waters edge at Chatsworth. I thought it would be a Green Sandpiper, which I have seen once before here and is a regular visitor to both Carsington and Ogston in the late summer and autumn. However, as soon as I got my binoculars on it I realised it was its somewhat rarer cousin the Wood Sandpiper. Paler brown on the upper parts with a distinct supercilium, pale underwing and finely barred tail are all distinguishing features from Green Sandpiper. 

This bird looked to be a juvenile with no signs of wing moult and heavily spotted upper parts it was probably born in Scandinavia so it's already completed quite a journey to Chatsworth and will continue south to sub-saharan Africa for the winter.

Wood Sandpiper

Osprey again at Rowsley

Better view of the Osprey today. thanks to a phone call from Ken. It was sat on a dead tree by the Congrieve turn off north of Rowsley. It's definitely been in the area since 14th July and possibly since the 8th so quite a long stay.

No sign of any rings so no way of knowing its origins, it looks like an adult or at least 2nd calendar year, quite small so possibly a male. 

It did a brief fly around before landing in the trees closer to Rowsley.

Osprey (© Ken Smith)