I was abroad during March and thought I had timed my return to coincide with the start of the spring migration. However, the first week of April felt more like winter than spring and the birds clearly felt the same as there was little evidence of any migrant arrivals.
My first migrants were the expected Chiffchaffs which I have seen, or heard daily since 1st April. Surprisingly I had two Swallow over Beeley Moor on the 2nd but didn't see any Sand Martin until the 8th when I had six birds at Chatsworth where I also saw my first Blackcap.
The weather finally changed this week when the wind moved round to the south for a period and the day time temperature rose by several degrees. The effects were soon apparent with migrant numbers rapidly increasing. Today I had my first Willow Warbler, not just one though, I counted at least 14 today. I also recorded my first Pied Flycatchers of the year as well as Common Redstart and several Tree Pipit.
 |
| Pied Flycatcher - always a welcome sight |
Although the wind has moved round to the west maximum day time temperatures are around 16˚C to 17˚C so hopefully birds will continue to move north.
Although I haven't seen Wheatear yet on the moor I did see 9 (6 males, 3 females) in Long Dale, Hartington at the weekend. The males were singing and giving occasional song flights. It's amazing that migrant Wheatears are only just starting to appear locally but they are already establishing breeding territories just 12km from Darley Dale.
There have been several sightings of Osprey nearby with birds at Wyver Lane, Belper, Baslow, Carsington and Ogston so there must be a decent chance of one locally.
There are plenty of Mandarin back on the river and I got a nice photo of a pair mating yesterday. The males take some beating for their colour and ornate feathers.
Mandarin mating
No comments:
Post a Comment