Up to the Peaks!

 Every year, Jayne and I have a drive out into the Peaks to catch up with a couple of very special summer migrants; Wheatear and Ring Ouzel. We don't always see them, but this year we did!

We arrived on site just after 7am, and our first bird was Red Grouse (134), that was heard ( and later seen). Not long after, Jayne spotted a male Wheatear (135) feeding on the far side of the valley, and we managed a distant, heavily-cropped photo.

Wheatear

Stonechats were seen, and several Curlew were also heard and seen flying over, as were 2 Swallows. Our final target, Ring Ouzel (136), was a little harder to find, but we got lucky, when a single male flew across the valley, and landed about 20m away!

Ring Ouzel

Ring Ouzels

This morning, Jayne and I went out into the Peaks to have a look for Ring Ouzel (148). After a bit of a false start, due to heavy mist, we managed to spot a couple of birds (1 male and 1 female).

The birds were first seen flitting around rocks and feeding on the short turf, just by the path, at the top end of Burbage Valley. We had decent views. despite the mist (!) and headed back to the car. Just as we'd finished putting everything away, we looked up and spotted the (presumably) same two birds feeding on the ground in the car park!! Luckily, I was bale to get the camera, and, as we sat in the car, the male bird came to within 5m and began feeding. The female stayed a little further back, in the heather. All photos taken from the mobile hide!

Ring Ouzel

Whilst watching the Ouzels, a large bird of prey flew in and landed in the heather. This flushed to Ouzels, and I managed to grab a few photos (through the mist!), of what appears to be a female Sparrowhawk. 

Sparrowhawk

Several Meadow Pipits and Red Grouse were also heard. 

Linacre - Ringing, Migrants and Year Ticks

 Last weekend (1st March) I was down at Linacre for a ringing session, and yesterday (8th March),  I was back again for a walk around the reservoirs. 

The ringing session was quiet, with just 13 birds ringed: Great Tit 4/2, Coal Tit 0/2, Dunnock 1/0 and Lesser Redpoll 4/0. The Redpoll (125) were the best birds of the morning, being both the first record for Linacre in 2025, and being a "Year Tick". The retrap Great Tits had been ringed in 2023 and 2024, and the 2 retrap Coal Tits had both been ringed in 2024.

Yesterday's visit, in 5 degrees, and glorious sunshine, brought out the first Chiffchaff (126) record of 2025, with 2 singing birds. Other birds singing were: Robin, Dunnock, Song Thrush (3), Blackbird, Woodpigeon, Nuthatch, Coal and Great Tit and Wren. Other species seen were: Canada Goose (a pair on the top reservoir), Greylag Goose (a pair flying along the valley), Mallard (40), Mandarin Duck (6, including birds searching for nesting sites in the woodlands), Moorhen (7), Coot (10), Grey Wagtail (3), Great-crested Grebe (5 birds; a pair each on the bottom and middle reservoirs, and a single, calling bird, on the top reservoir), Cormorant (1 breeding plumaged bird on the top reservoir, Pheasant,  Jay and Great-spotted Woodpecker (drumming).

Canada Geese

After ringing, Jayne and I had a walk along Stanage Edge, where we heard our first Derbyshire Curlew of 2025 and saw Meadow Pipits, Skylark and 2 Red Grouse (127).

Bonaparte's Gull and Red-breasted Goose - 2 Lifers!

 Its not often that a Lesser Yellowlegs has to play second fiddle on a day's birdwatching in Great Britain, but, on today's trip to RSPB Frampton Marsh, that is exactly what happened!!!

Lesser Yellowlegs (we went back later!!)

Jayne and I decided to drive across, after seeing that an adult, summer-plumaged Bonaparte's Gull (1st Lifer of 2024 and my 144th species of the year) had made a reappearance on the Reedbed Marsh, after being found earlier in the week. We walked quickly past the Yellowlegs (!) and saw the gull more or less straight away, sitting on the water, about 20m away, with several Black-headed Gulls. The bird remained on view all day, and we managed to get a few shots.

Bonaparte's Gull (rear bird), with Black-headed Gull

Within the same view, we also spotted 2 Little Gulls - an adult and a 1st winter/2nd calendar year bird (145). There were dozens (hundreds?) of Avocets around the reserve, along with several Ruff (146), breeding Lapwing, Redshank and 2-300 Black-tailed Godwits. Unfortunately, we dipped the Black-winged Stilt (a female, 2nd year bird), so we'll have to go back again for that one!!

Black-tailed Godwit

Walking up to the sea wall, we heard the first Sedge Warblers (143) of the year, and caught a brief sight of a fly-over Yellow Wagtail (147). Two Garganeys (male and female - 148) were seen (fast asleep), along with 2 Little Ringed Plovers (149) and  a stunning, male White Wagtail (150). Also seen were Little Egret and two Great (White) Egret.

The last new bird of the day was a Red-breasted Goose (151 and lifer number 2), that was feeding with the Brent Geese. Although this is a species of more often seen as an escapee in Britain (as was the bird we saw earlier in the year at Clumber Park), this bird "felt" wilder, and, as it was associating with the Brent Geese, stands more of a chance of being accepted as such. It gave good telescope views, and I managed a half decent record shot. 

Red-breasted Goose (1st winter?)

My 142nd bird of the year, Red Grouse, was seen yesterday, on Stanage Moor, Derbyshire.

Year List update - 15th April 2023

 Over the last week or so I've had a few trips to catch up with a few more "year ticks", taking this year's total to 132.

The first trip was to the moors just above Sheffield to try and catch up with Ring Ouzel and Wheatear. Unfortunately, my first visit blew a blank, as there was a very heavy mist/fog on arrival! I did, however, manage to see several Red Grouse (126).

The next trip, to Ossett in West Yorkshire was a proper "twitch" to see 2 Black-crowned Night Herons (128) that had appeared on the river there. 1 was seen, initially perched up in a tree, but then feeding- very nice! A Kingfisher (127) was also seen, along with half a dozen Sand Martins, a single Swallow, and my first Orange Tip butterflies of the year (2 males).

Black-crowned Night Heron

My next "tick" was a single House Martin (129) that I saw at Linacre yesterday morning. This morning, Jayne and I had a return visit to the moorlands, where, despite some more mist (!), we managed to spot a hunting Short-eared Owl (130), a couple of Ring Ouzels ( male and female - 131) and a couple of Wheatears (male and female - 132).

Wheatear

Year List Update- 14th April 2019

It's been over a month since I last updated the year list, and, since then, I've added quite a few new species, including a "lifer", the Siberian Lesser Whitethroat (blythi) that I caught and ringed in February (see here). As you can see, most of the new species are summer visitors, except for the Lesser-spotted Woodpecker (heard at Linacre on 30th March - my first record there since 2014), and the Red Grouse, seen yesterday at Stanage Edge.

Ring Ouzel

Year List update:
126 – Lesser-spotted Woodpecker

127- Lesser Whitethroat (blythi) 

128 – Blackcap
129 – Willow Warbler
130 – Swallow
131 – Sand Martin
132 – House Martin
133 – Red Grouse

134 – Ring Ouzel

Year List Update

I haven't updated the "year list" for a few weeks, so, after visiting the RSPB Bempton Cliffs reserve yesterday I thought I'd do a quick post to bring it up to date.

The first 2 species (numbers 114 - 116) were seen last week at Linacre. The next 2 species, House Martin and Blackcap, were seen on Thursday, the former over school, and the latter at Linacre. The two grouse species were seen yesterday in Langdon Beck, County Durham, whilst the last 3 species were also seen yesterday, this time at RSPB Bempton Cliffs.

Gannets

Fulmar

Year List update:
114 – Common Sandpiper
115 – Swallow
116 – House Martin
117 – Blackcap
118 – Black Grouse
119 – Red Grouse
120 – Gannet
121 – Guillemot
122 – Razorbill

Big Moor Year ticks

Jayne and I had a couple of hours on Big Moor this afternoon. It was pretty blustery, but we walked from the road up to the old reservoir and back again, adding 2 new species to the "year list".

The first species seen was Wheatear, with 2 male birds seen on the fence posts by the house by the reservoir.

Wheatear

The other "year tick" was Red Grouse, with 2 birds seen flying over the moor. Other species seen were: Kestrel (1 hunting by the house), Peregrine Falcon (1 flew over), Meadow Pipit (10+ flying around and singing), Skylark (6 flying and singing), Lapwing (5 displaying), Canada Goose (2 birds on the pools), Curlew (1 heard), Carrion Crow (3), Reed Bunting (1 male) and Linnet (2 birds flew over).

Year List update:
132 - Wheatear
133 - Red Grouse

Scotland - Day 2

Yesterday was our second day in Scotland. We started very early, meeting up at RSPB Loch Garten at 5.30am, hoping to see our first Capercaille. Unfortunately, we "dipped", and no birds were seen during the organised event. We did, however, see dozens of Siskins, Chaffinches, the famous Ospreys (see blog here for details of this year's nest) and Coal Tits. Best of all though, was a beautiful Red Squirrel, that was sat outside the hide eating the birds' peanuts.

Red Squirrel

After missing out on the Capercaille (and Crested Tit!) at Loch Garten, we decided to head back up Cairn Gorm to see if there were any Black Grouse at the RSPB's viewpoint there. There weren't!!! Unfortunately, it was VERY windy when we got there, and there was no sign of any birds at all. Undeterred, we set off to the car park and found the flock of approximately 15 Snow Buntings feeding there again. We enjoyed watching them for about 20 minutes before heading back to the hotel for breakfast.

Our first stop after breakfast was a loch where we'd be informed breeding plumaged Black-throated Diver could be found. We found the loch easily and a diver was found straight away. It was too far away to photograph, but we had great views through the 'scope. We also saw an Osprey here, along with 3 Greylag Geese, 2 Mallards, a pair of Wigeon (possible breeders?), a pair of Oystercatchers and several Red Grouse, including this confiding individual that I was able to photograph from the car.

Red Grouse

Our next stop of the day was the RSPB's Loch Ruthven reserve. This reserve is well known as a reliable spot for breeding plumaged Slavonian Grebes, and we managed to see 4 birds from the public hide. Again, they didn't come close enough to photograph, but we watched them well through the 'scope. There were also 2 pairs of Little Grebes on eggs, a male Goosander and several singing Willow Warblers.

Willow Warbler (singing)

Year List update:

142 - Black-throated Diver

143 - Slavonian Grebe

Cairn Gorm

Jayne and I are up in Scotland for a few days, and, as the title suggests, we visited Cairn Gorm today. We went in search of Ptarmigan, but were out of luck. We did, however, manage to hear Red Grouse and see Meadow Pipts (!), a male Pied Wagtail and a super flock of 15 Snow Buntings. Four of the buntings landed close enough to get a few photos.

Snow Buntings in snow

After the visit to Cairn Gorm we drove down to RSPB Loch Garten where we popped into the centre to see the pair of breeding Ospreys. Both birds were on the nest when we arrived. We didn't see the other specialities, but we're heading back there tomorrow, so fingers crossed.

In the evening we had a short visit to the River Spey where we saw 2 Common Sandpipers, 2 pairs of Goldeneye , several singing Willow Warblers and a single Dipper.

Year List update:
136 – Red Grouse
137 – Common Sandpiper
138 – Redstart
139 – Snow Bunting
140 – Osprey
141 - Dipper

Ring Ouzels and Wheatear

Living just 20 minutes from the Peak District National Park you'd think that "year ticking" Ring Ouzel and Wheatear would be quite easy, but for some reason (mainly a lack of effort on my part, if I'm honest!), I don't get them every year. With this in mind, I set out to Stanage Edge this morning to try my luck. I arrived at 6.30am, and in the next 2 hours, I managed to notch up 7 new species for the "year list", including my two target species.

When I arrived, I parked in the car park, and walked up to the Edge. At first, it was quite quiet except for several Meadow Pipits, Red Grouse, Wrens, Dunnocks and a single singing Willow Warbler. I walked right up onto the top of the Edge and heard a calling Ring Ouzel! I managed to get my bins of the bird, which turned out to be a female, but she then jumped off the Edge and disappeared! Whilst waiting to see if she'd reappear, a Raven flew over being mobbed by a Carrion Crow. I then decided to walk back down to the area below the Edge. Whilst walking back a male Wheatear appeared, and  I managed a rather distant record shot. Here's a heavily cropped photo.

Wheatear

 

I walked along the bottom of the Edge for another half an hour or so before spotting any more Ouzels, but this time, I didn't see 1, 2 or 3 , but an amazing 5 birds!! There were 4 males that were flying around, chasing each other trying to attract the attention of the single female bird. Luckily they flew right over my head and landed on some boulders about 40m away from me. They were so busy squabbling with each other, that they completely ignored me, and I managed to get some half decent photos, including this one of all 4 males together (click to enlarge and see if you can spot all 4 birds).

 

Male Ring Ouzels



 

Female Ring Ouzel

Male Ring Ouzel

 

The whole episode only lasted for about 5 minutes, but I don't think I'll forget this experience for quite a while! Walking back to the car I had my last "year tick" when a Snipe flew across the moor. Quite a morning!

Year List update:
95 – Meadow Pipit
96 – Red Grouse
97 – Willow Warbler
98 - Raven
99 – Wheatear
100 – Ring Ouzel
101 - Snipe

More Mipits and a (near) record Goose Count

After last week's success ringing my first Meadow Pipit of 2014  I was very pleased to hear that we were heading back up to a moorland site at Ringinglow, Sheffield, for our annual Meadow Pipit ringing session (see here for details of last year's visit).

As in previous years, we arrived on site nice and early (5.30am), and got the nets up as quickly as possible. The MP3 players were set to Meadow Pipit, and after a bit of low cloud had cleared, we started to catch birds. Four hours later we'd managed a very respectable 107 new birds, all Meadow Pipits. The vast majority were juvenile birds, with just 4 adult birds ringed.

Other birds seen during today's session included Raven, Red Grouse (Year Tick), Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, and a Sparrowhawk, that kept buzzing the nets, thankfully, without success!

Thanks to Sean and Kevin for another brilliant session!

In the afternoon, I went for a walk around Linacre with Jayne. There wasn't too much going on, except a couple of "wheeting" Chiffchaff and an amazing 58 Canada Geese on the top reservoir. The group appeared to be one made up of adults and juvenile birds, and is the second highest count I've had there after 80 in October 2011 (see here). We'll see if they hang around, or move on. Here's a poor camera phone photo of some of today's geese.

Canada Geese

Year List update:
173 - Red Grouse

Non-stop Ringing

That was the order of the day today as we (Sorby Breck Ringing Group), made our annual trip to the moorlands above Sheffield (Ringinglow), to catch and ring Meadow Pipits as they migrate south over the area. We arrived at 5.45am and over the next five hours we had a constant stream of birds, resulting in a super catch of 139 Meadow Pipits and 1 Tree Pipit.

Today's ringing site

 

As many birdwatchers know, Tree and Meadow Pipits can be quite difficult to tell apart, but when "in the hand" there are several features that make the job a little easier. When the Tree Pipit turned up this morning, the first thing we noticed was the much shorter, well curved, hind claw, followed closely by the number of primary feathers in a line (2-4 in a line, 2-5 in a Meadow Pipit ), "pinkish" legs and a much "stronger", more powerful beak!

Tree Pipit's wing showing primaries 2-4 (the top 3 feathers in this picture)

in a line

As I mentioned at the start of the post, we were very busy this morning, ringing and recording the bio metrics (weight, wing length, fat and muscle scores) for all those birds, but we also recorded the other birds seen around the site. A Kestrel flew over the area a few times, a few Red Grouse were heard and a couple of Carrion Crows were also about.

Finally, thanks alot to Kevin and Sean for your support and hospitality this morning. Look forward to ringing with you both again.

Linacre nests at last and summer migrants

Today started with a walk around Linacre to check the tit boxes. After a complete blank back on the 13th I was hoping for something, anything, and thankfully I wasn't completely disappointed. No eggs or birds were found in the boxes, but at least there were 14 nests being built. They ranged from a few pieces of moss up to a nests lined with feathers, so hopefully there should be some eggs this year and some records for the BTO's Nest Record Scheme.

1 of the most advance nests

 

Also found in one of the boxes was a Brown Long-eared Bat. It was in the same box as previously (see here), and, as can be seen on the picture, there was small mite on it as well.

 

Brown Long-eared Bat

 

As well as checking the nest boxes I also walked all around the valley today and managed a couple of new species for the year; House Martin (6 over the middle reservoir) and Swift (1 over the middle reservoir). The Swift was my earliest ever record since recording began in 2006. 30ish Swallows were also present today, along with at least 3 singing Blackcaps, 4 singing Chiffchaffs and 7 singing Willow Warblers! An adult male Pied Wagtail was on the top reservoir. Another first for me was a record of Toad, with 4 dead on the boardwalk. They all looked as if they had been eaten, presumably by Carrion Crows?

Whilst walking around I met Jackie,one of the rangers and a volunteer, Antony, who told me they had recorded some Common Lizards around the top reservoir this year and Grass Snakes around Spire View, so there's 2 new species for my records. Something else for me to look for!!

One final report from Linacre as this bumblebee, which I think is a White-tailed Bumblebee, seen here feeding on a Willow.

White-tailed Bumblebee

After lunch I had a walk up to Barbrook Plantation with Jayne, where we spotted a nice male Wheatear and a stunning male Redstart. 2 more year ticks.

Dodgy photo!

 

Singing Redstart

 

Year List update:
115 – Red Grouse (1 last week on Burbage Moor)
116 – House Martin
117 – Swift
118 – Wheatear
119 - Redstart

Meadow pipt extravaganza

Following on from my first ever Meadow Pipits at Linacre last week I spent 5 hours out ringing this morning with the Sorby Breck Ringing Group high up on the moors above Sheffield.

We arrived on site for a 5.30am start and after setting up several nets around a disused quarry we settled back for a morning of ringing. Despite a stiff breeze, the birds began arriving soon after the nets had been set and there was a steady stream throughout the morning, ending with a total of 69 birds (all Meadow Pipits).

Happy ringers

The identification of Meadow Pipits was relatively straight forward after the first few (thanks for all the pointers Michael!) but I must admit it took me quite a while to get my head around aging them. Hopefully I'll get some more practice before the end of the passage season!

There were only a few other birds around today; Carrion Crow, Jackdaw and Red Grouse, but, amazingly, the Red Grouse was a Year Tick, so the Year List has increased by 1.

153 - Red Grouse

Ring Ouzel Success - Burbage Moor - 2nd April 2011

After a no show last week I decided to make a  return visit this morning with the hope of seeing Ring Ouzel. After about half an hour I heard a familiar sound and spotted one bird flying up the valley towards the edge. It didn't stop, but after another 10-15 minutes 3 birds were seen and heard chasing each other over the rocks. Unfortunately no photos today, as the birds were more interested in setting up territories than posing for me! Instead I've put in a picture of the edge itself- very nice.

Burbage Edge

Other birds present were Meadow Pipit and Wren (many birds singing and displaying), Stonechat (1 heard), Siskin, Fieldfare (8) and Linnet flying over,  Kestrel hunting, Red Grouse and Pheasant calling and several Carrion Crows and Jackdaws also flying over. A great start to a lovely day, but more about that later.

Leash Fen and Burbage Moor - 26th March 2011

Just returned from a couple of hours up on the moors looking for early returning migrants - without any luck!!! I did, however, get a few "year ticks" and some new information for the BTO's Bird Atlas.

I started off at Leash Fen where I found my first singing Yellowhammer of the year. This was joined by several Meadow Pipits, also singing and displaying. Shilitoe Wood held the usual Chaffinches and a Song Thrush.

Next stop was Burbage Moor, which was also very quiet, but I did hear Red Grouse, Wren, Stonechat (year tick) and several Siskin, which were flying over.

Stonechat (male)

Driving home I decided to go via Barlow. Just as I was heading up towards Dronfield I noticed a pair of Mandarin Duck flying around and landing in a tree. I pulled over and whilst watching them, 3 Stock Dove also flew in and landed in a nearby tree. All the birds seemed very interested in a potential nest site - great records for the Atlas. I stayed and watched for about 10 minutes, during which time a pair of Nuthatch also flew in and looked at the same hole, as did a male Great-spotted Woodpecker and a pair of Jackdaw!!!

It's interesting to speculate where the Mandarins came from, but with Linacre just a few miles away as the Mandarin flies, it seems very likely that they came from here, doesn't it?

Raptor Fest - Upper Derwent Valley- 19th March 2011

The last time I blogged about the Upper Derwent Valley back in January the news wasn't good. I was reporting about raptor persecution during the 2010 breeding season. Thankfully today's post is a lot more pleasant and hopefully enjoyable.

Today's walk was organised by the Derbyshire Ornithological Society and involved a morning watching raptors dispalying above the skies of Howden and Derwent Water. Unfirtunately no pictures of the birds as they were too far away and too high up!

We met at Fairholmes Car Park at 9am and the first raptors soon put in an appearance, when an enormous female Goshawk was identified flying high over the moors. This wasn't to be our only sighting of this iconic species, however, and several more were spotted throughout the morning. Common Buzzards lived up to their name,with numbers in double figures. A pair of Kestrels were also recorded and several Sparrowhawks were noted high up in display. One Peregrine Falcon was seen in the company of two Buzzards amd the honourary raptors, Ravens, were also recdorded, when four birds were seen together at the top of the valley. The final raptor of the day was a "ringtail" Hen Harrier, which was found from Windy Corner, high over the moors.

Other birds present included a beautiful male Red-breasted Merganser preening and feeding on Howden Water, my first Meadow Pipit of the year, Siskin, Red Grouse and a pair of Pied Wagtail.

Pied Wagtail

These sightings prove that the area is still a very popular one for many different birds of prey. Let's hope this year's breeding season is a lot more productive than last year's!!!