First Yellow Wagtail and Whinchat and a stray Black Swan at Chatsworth

 Made an early visit to Chatworth to avoid the inevitable crowds on a Bank Holiday weekend. A Black Swan on the river in front of the house was a complete surprise. 

A native of Australia they are widely held in wildfowl collections and have established a small breeding population in the UK, mainly in the warmer south. In the most recent figures I could find the population was estimated at around 50 birds with a small number of pairs actually breeding. There have been several sightings at Carsington over the winter and there are perhaps several feral birds in Derbyshire.

Black Swan

A Yellow Wagtail, a scarce bird locally, was feeding along the edge of the river and at least one pair of Common Sandpiper.

Yellow Wagtail

Up on the moor the lone Whimbrel has been joined by a second bird and I had distant views of my first Whinchat of the year.

Whinchat, almost lost in the haze

I finished April with 106 species which is my highest monthly total for the Darley Dale area. Starting again today but may not try quite so hard!