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.

Dunlin - Harthill Pond (New Dam) Youlgrave

 A couple of interesting records today, the first a Pied Flycatcher in a mixed tit and warbler flock on the edge of Alport. This is the latest date I've recorded Pied Flycatcher locally, my previously latest date was mid-June so this is significantly later! Pied Flycatchers leave the woodlands where they have bred in early June and I've often wondered where they go. Departing migrants are not normally encountered on the coast before early August and it may be that the post breeding birds are dispersed around our river valley before they depart which is supported by todays record but I would have thought they would be more frequently reported in July if that were the case?

The second record is of an adult Dunlin at Harthill Pond, Youlgrave, it was very distant and I thought it was going to be a Snipe on my initial view so was very pleased to see that it was an adult Dunlin still retaining its black belly. Although they breed in small numbers on the moors of north Derbyshire and regularly occur at Carsington and Ogston on passage its a very scarce bird locally.

Dunlin - adult

I went out last night, ahead of the heavy rain forecast for today, and was pleased to see and hear several Nightjar still giving their distinctive churring song. Their breeding season must be almost over so it's surprising that they continue churring in to August.

Scanning the drystone walls on the edge of the moor one stone looked very oval and proved to be a Little Owl which are very easy to overlook given the number of dry stone walls!

Little Owl - second rock from the left!

Little Egret - Chatsworth

July is a fairly quiet month as the breeding season comes to an end and some of our breeding migrants are already leaving the area, my last Curlew was on 4th July although there is still a chance of birds passing through and both Pied Flycatcher and Wood Warbler have left their breeding sites.

A Little Egret was a surprise this morning at Chatsworth, the first I've seen for about 6 weeks and interstinglly it looks like a fresh juvenile with its dark eye and green-yellow legs. Perhaps a bird from southern Derbyshire.

Little Egret - juvenile

Goosander look to have had a fairly typical year with family parties on the Derwent at Chatsworth and on the Wye at Bakewell.

Goosander - 3 juveniles standing with an adult female behind

Nightjar are still displaying on the moorland fringes and I have had some great views recently of birds flying very close to me and even landing on the path a few metres away.

Nightjar

Common Quail - Bonsall Moor

At least three Quail have been calling in hay meadows adjoining Green Lane, Bonsall Moor since the 23rd June. I could hear two this morning but the birds were some distance apart and it was difficult to be certain how many birds were calling. 

They have occasionally been visible with a bird calling briefly from on top of a drystone wall this morning. This evening it was thought that there could be as many as five males calling. 

Stoat raiding Field Vole nest - Beeley Moor

 I presumed that this Stoat was feeding its own brood from a nest of, what I guess are Field Voles, as it made the same journey five times. Each time carrying a vole to the same area on Beeley Triangle.

Stoat carrying Field Vole

The grass was still wet from last nights rain so the Stoat looks slightly bedraggled but was a lovely pale lemon yellow below and reddish brown above. As usual it moved very quickly but fortunately it paused and looked at me just before going in to the grass.

A scarce mammal on Beeley Moor, I'll be keeping an eye out for its offspring.

Chatsworth - Oystercatchers

 I made a brief visit to Chatsworth last week but saw neither Oystercatchers or Common Sandpiper so I was pleasantly surprised to hear Oystercatchers calling as I walked along the river this morning. I was even more surprised to see 5 birds flying circling in the sky, a record count for me locally. As I put my camera up to take a photo I saw that they were mobbing a Red Kite. 

Oystercatchers mobbing Red Kite

I saw them again a little latter when two of the birds were displaying to each other. Impossible to know whether these are new birds or if two of them are the original pair, will have to wait and see if there is a breeding attempt.

A Common Sandpiper was also feeding along the river raising the possibility that it is one of a breeding pair.

Common Sandpiper

Although this is only my first week back after a three week absence I was hoping to see more evidence of Goosander breeding but a female seen today is the only bird I have seen, maybe they have had more success on the Wye?

Pied Flycatcher using hole excavated by Great Spotted Woodpecker

 I've been abroad for several weeks so today I was keen to catch up on the progress some of our breeding birds have made. The Pied Flycatcher on my last post, on the 19th May was using a natural nest hole and I was particularly interested to see if they were still around as most of the local Pied Flycatchers use nest boxes, some of which I put up with Alan Stewardson more than a dozen years ago but they are still in use!

The Pied Flycatcher incubates its eggs for around 15 days and it takes a further 15 days for the young to fledge, its 26 days since I last saw the male so if they had just started egg laying the young birds could still be in the nest.

I had to wait a little while but first the male, then the female turned up at the nest to feed the youngsters which must now be very close to fledging.

The nest hole in a Silver Birch looks to have been excavated by a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

I also made a visit t Youlgrave and a Common Quail calling close to Harthill Pond was unexpected and the first time I have heard one there.

Pied flycatcher -male

Whinchat - last of our breeding migrants arrives

 Having seen my first Nightjars a couple of days ago a Whinchat this afternoon on Beeley Moor completes the arrivals of our breeding migrants, a superb male I'm hoping it will stay to breed. As the Whinchat is just arriving the first young Stonechats have fledged this week.

Whinchat - male

Had lovely views of a singing male Pied Flycatcher a few days ago. Usually most of the Pied Flycatchers I see are on the west side of the Derwent River but this year I have encountered 7 singing males on the east side of the although two birds were in Alders on the river bank so could have been either side, hopefully they will also stay to breed.

Pied Flycatcher - male

No signs of any Short-eared Owls this month but a Long-eared hunting over a clear fell area at dusk is a positive sign and a pair of Little Owls close to Bakewell are always nice to see.

Little Owl - pair

Firecrest - Matlock Forest

The Firecrest is a very scarce breeding bird in Derbyshire with confirmed breeding in 1981, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2007, 2008, 2016, 2018 and 2020 according to the Derbyshire Ornithological Society. It is more regularly found in the winter with one or two birds recorded most years.

This morning I located a singing male in an area of Sitka Spruce in Matlock Forest. Typically they are in some of the oldest and darkest coniferous forest making their features difficult to see in the wild but the photographs show what a superb looking bird they are.

Firecrest - male

There is a history of them occurring in Matlock Forest with the first breeding season record there in 2006 and I was fortunate to see a pair with three youngsters there in 2020.

Nationally the first UK breeding record was in Hampshire in 1962 with numbers increasing rapidly since then and it is now estimated that there could be 4000 pairs mainly concentrated in the south and southeast of Britain.

Firecrest Breeding distribution 2008-2011

Derbyshire and South Yorkshire are at the northern tip of the UK breeding distribution but with summer temperatures rising we may see more in the future.

Fingers crossed that this male can attract a female and produce some youngsters.

Yellow Wagtail - Elton Common

 A single report of a flyover Yellow Wagtail over Beeley Moor on 3rd May was the first of the Spring but I had three, a male and two females, at Elton Common this morning.

Yellow Wagtail - female

Although passage birds may be encountered almost anywhere locally this is still the only site that I know where breeding is attempted.

A kettle of 9 Common Buzzards over the fields was a notable count.

Grey Partridge - my first in over a decade

 Robin Elliot came across a pair of Grey Partridge yesterday by the Matlock Road/ Alicehead Road junction. Fortunately they were still in the area this morning in a field a little closer to Swinger Lane. Although there have been occasional reports; Alan Stewardson saw one on Harland Edge earlier this year and there was a report of a pair a couple of days ago in the Haddon Grove Farm area, they are my first since 2011!

I'd be interested to hear of any other local records in the last few years.

Grey Partridge

Most of the expected migrants are back now with good numbers of Common Whitethroat on the moors and several Garden Warbler around the plantations now. I also had a Lesser Whitethroat singing on 3rd May on Cullumbell Lane outside Uppertown.

Superb views of Grasshopper Warbler this morning with a pair together on Beeley Moor, there are at least four males with territories around the moors.

Grasshopper Warbler

I saw the Turtle Dove on the last day of April and again on the 1st May around Flash Lane. It was displaying to a Collared Dove on the 30th April with the chances of it finding a mate very slim although it persists with its lovely purring song.

Turtle Dove displaying to a Collared

I saw my first Common Swifts over Darley Dale on 2nd May and numbers are steadily increasing but there are not many House Martin about.

There was a Hobby over Flash Lane on 30th April and I've seen another today and the first Wood Warblers returned on 1st May. 

So just Spotted Flycatcher, Whinchat and Nightjar still to arrive.

Turtle Dove back for its 6th year

 The lone male Turtle Dove which has frequented Uppertown, Darwin Forest and the Matlock Farm Park area returned for its 6th summer on the 20th April and has been seen several times since. If only it could attract a mate! An amazing record and one of very few to be found in Derbyshire.

Turtle Dove

I heard my first Cuckoo by Beeley Triangle on the 22nd April and there are several birds now, around the moors and Matlock Forest. On the same day there was a group of 6 Ring Ouzel (a record count for me) on the edge of the moor which increased to 6 birds before they departed.

Three Common Sandpiper were present along the river at Chatsworth this morning but more surprising was a Dunlin flushed from the river bank, only the second time I have seen one locally. It circled round a couple of times before flying off north, giving me just about enough time to get a record shot.

Common Sandpiper

Dunlin

The Oystercatchers are still present at Chatsworth and making use of the props for the forthcoming horse trials!

Oystercatcher

Whilst many of our summer migrants have returned there are still several missing and I would usually have seen Garden Warbler, Wood Warbler and Common Whitethroat by now but I suspect the persistent cool temperatures are holding them back south of us somewhere.