While it was quite sunny it was also breezy which probably wasn't the best weather for birding, nevertheless it turned out to be a reasonable call due to a Spotted Flycatcher near Cloughend Bungalow on my way back to the car. Other birds seen;
c40 Swallow's over the fields by Larkhill 2 Chiffchaff 3 Willow Warbler 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker 2 Buzzard 1 Goldcrest 2 Treecreeper 6 Golden Plover over the quarry
Cheers
Mark
Julian Winstanley said
Wed Aug 3 9:29 PM, 2016
A wind assisted loop of Ludworth Moor by bicycle delivered a sparse return in terms of birds, possibly due to the wind. Many magpies and corvids as normal, numerous swallows and martins and quite a few swifts, but the only other things of note were a group of about 40 thrush, and three curlew feeding in a field.
Mark Walsh said
Sun Jul 31 6:36 PM, 2016
Spent a couple of hours up at Ludworth this afternoon with the weather being reasonable.
A good number of Swallows over the fields Counted 6 Swift as well 2 Chiffchaff 3 Willow Warbler 1 Grey Heron 2 Buzzard 1 Sparrowhawk 2 Tree Sparrow 1 Raven heard in the distance
Butterflies listed in 'other wildlife'.
Cheers
Mark
Julian Winstanley said
Thu Jul 21 11:31 AM, 2016
Spotted a Raven and a flock of about 30 Golden Plover on this morning's commute. They flew over as I cycled past so wasn't able to look for Dunlin
John Rayner said
Sun Jul 10 12:34 PM, 2016
35 Golden Plover (no Dunlin) 6 Skylarks 6 Mistle Thrushes 2 House Martins straight through Whitethroats (3), Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Linnet all in song
Cheers John
Bill Beckwith said
Fri Jul 8 6:50 PM, 2016
Up to 20 golden plover,some in summer plumage,possibly one dunlin and several lapwing. One whitethroat on path to picking rods and reed bunting,2 skylarks and meadow pipit. Greenfinch,goldfinches and heron flying over.
-- Edited by Bill Beckwith on Friday 8th of July 2016 06:51:24 PM
-- Edited by Bill Beckwith on Friday 8th of July 2016 08:49:21 PM
Mark Walsh said
Sun Jul 3 7:01 PM, 2016
After a text from John I had initially thought of going up to Ludworth tomorrow but in the end I chose to head up today.
Saw the Dunlin in amongst the Golden Plover flock in fine plumage, there were also 8 Swift flying above the path.
Had a brief walk over to the quarry where there were several Swallows darting around as well as numerous Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers in amongst the scrub.
Cheers
Mark
John Rayner said
Sun Jul 3 5:15 PM, 2016
Good for waders this afternoon
A single summer plumage Dunlin in with a flock of 59 Golden Plover (my first Dunlin up here). Poor photo attached, I was photographing insects and only had my macro lens. Lapwings c90 Curlew (single flock of 13) Skylarks (8 males singing) Whitethroat (on Picking Rods track)
On the debit side the pools to the east of Gun Road have been dredged. That's probably screwed this year's emergence of Emerald Damselflies, Black Darters and Common Hawkers, but it may improve the habitat in the long term.
Late Breeding Birds Survey early morning with Mark Walsh.
Mostly just the expected species but a couple of highlights: A juvenile Tawny Owl was mobbed by Blue Tits, Goldfinches, Bullfinches and Mistle Thrushes. A Peregrine flew over with 22 Swifts nearby.
Interesting to compare 2015-2016 surveys with the 2003-2009 breeding bird counts (per. Dave Evans et al). Lost as regular sightings are Snipe, Grasshopper Warblers, Sedge Warblers, Stonechats and Whinchats.
Cheers John
John Rayner said
Wed Jun 8 3:23 PM, 2016
09.45 - 12.15.
Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat - 1 of each Curlew 2 Tufted Duck. A male. Unusual for here. Lapwing 21 Reed Bunting. 4 singing males on territories. Snipe. 1 perched on a fence post. Linnet 9 Redpoll 1 Mistle Thrush. Family party of 5. Plus usual breeding species.
Cheers John
Mark Walsh said
Wed Jun 8 2:21 PM, 2016
A late post for yesterday, got up to Ludworth for a quick early morning walk from 8 - 10am, very warm even early morning.
4 Willow Warblers 2 Chiffchaff 2 Tree Sparrow 1 Common Whitethroat 1 Green woodpecker (though another bird was seen 5 minutes later a little further on, could have been the same bird could have been a different one) 1 Kestrel 1 Buzzard
Were the highlights of the walk.
Butterflies in other wildlife.
Cheers
Mark
Julian Winstanley said
Mon May 30 8:19 PM, 2016
I'll admit I didn't get an extended view which is a shame, but the brief view I had was quite clear. We saw plenty of larks and pipits, this bird was much darker. I was hoping you might mention Ring Ouzel, or is that my being too hopeful?
John Rayner said
Mon May 30 8:08 PM, 2016
Julian Winstanley wrote:
Still not very mobile, we had lunch in the car at the bottom of the picking rods track, managed to walk a couple of hundred yards up the track after eating but not too far. Saw many skylark, a few meadow pipits, a flock of half a dozen starling, a flock of half a dozen linnet, a couple of reed bunting.
Most interesting thing was something I didn't see properly: I was looking towards Manchester, over the field above the old quarry to the west of the road. I saw a smallish bird rise from the grasses near the small pond for just a couple of seconds before it went back into cover. It seemed slightly larger than the reed bunting in that field, and seemed to be black with a white spot on its throat. It rose, hovered around briefly, then went back down. I didn't see it again despite regularly scanning, and due to my condition I'm not able to walk down for a scout around at the moment. Any ideas what it may have been? I did scan my bird guide but I'm not sure that it could be the bird whose illustration caught my eye...
Hi Julian,
I hope that it is rarer, but....
...overwhelmingly it is most likely to be a poor view of a Meadow Pipit or Skylark. If the illustration that caught your eye was a White-spotted Bluethroat your hovering behavioural description for that species doesn't really fit.
Cheers John
Julian Winstanley said
Mon May 30 7:51 PM, 2016
Still not very mobile, we had lunch in the car at the bottom of the picking rods track, managed to walk a couple of hundred yards up the track after eating but not too far. Saw many skylark, a few meadow pipits, a flock of half a dozen starling, a flock of half a dozen linnet, a couple of reed bunting.
Most interesting thing was something I didn't see properly: I was looking towards Manchester, over the field above the old quarry to the west of the road. I saw a smallish bird rise from the grasses near the small pond for just a couple of seconds before it went back into cover. It seemed slightly larger than the reed bunting in that field, and seemed to be black with a white spot on its throat. It rose, hovered around briefly, then went back down. I didn't see it again despite regularly scanning, and due to my condition I'm not able to walk down for a scout around at the moment. Any ideas what it may have been? I did scan my bird guide but I'm not sure that it could be the bird whose illustration caught my eye...
Mark Walsh said
Sun May 29 6:39 PM, 2016
The weather was so nice today that it would have been a shame not to get out, as such I headed up to Ludworth. Seems I wasn't the only one with that idea as I bumped into Andy Bissitt as well as Mr and Mrs Raynor.
A lot of bird life around though mostly heard as opposed to seen;
Several Willow Warblers and Chiffchaff calling A single Garden Warbler singing by Cloughend (no lesser whitethroat this time) Curlew calling A few Redpolls And a Buzzard high up
I'd hoped it might be a good day for Hobby but no luck.
Butterflies noted in other wildlife
Cheers
Mark
John Rayner said
Wed May 18 9:38 PM, 2016
1 Tree Sparrow was unusual near the Picking Rods track 6 Linnets (3 pairs) 1 Sparrowhawk with prey 2 Common Whitethroats 1 Lesser Whitethroat 2 Golden Plovers Numerous Willow Warblers, Lapwings, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits
Cheers John
Julian Winstanley said
Tue May 17 3:27 PM, 2016
Spent an hour in the car (currently not very mobile after a minor op) at the bottom of the track up to Picking Rods. Sightings of interest:
2 reed bunting
2 kestrel
2 buzzards
Pair of linnet
Pair of raven
John Rayner said
Thu May 12 1:50 PM, 2016
Larkhill area and Cloughend area (09.50 - 12.00)
To my great surprise only the second bird I put bins onto today was an ARCTIC TERN. Flying NE over Larkhill bungalow.
Other sightings included, Common Whitethroat 3-4 Lesser Whitethroat 2 Garden Warbler 1 (Cloughend) Redpoll 2 Tree Sparrow 2 (1 near Cloughend Farm and the other at a new location for me - above the angler's pools on Sandhill Lane)
Cheers John
Julian Winstanley said
Tue May 10 10:13 AM, 2016
1 Curlew and 2 kestrel yesterday evening (8pm ish)
2 Curlew and 2 pied wagtail visible from the road as I cycled through this morning. Quite a few Lapwing around, though I feel that numbers are very much down on previous years, maybe by as much as 50%.
John Rayner said
Mon May 9 8:32 PM, 2016
Early morning (Cloughend - quarry - Picking Rods)
Lesser Redpoll 3 Bullfinch 2 Lesser Whitethroat 1 Common Whitethroat 1 Curlew 3 Golden Plover 21
Common Whitethroat 1 Lesser Whitethroat 1 Willow Warbler 4 Chiffchaff 2 Wheatear 6 Golden Plover c55 Swallow 7 Buzzard 3 Canada Goose 2 (female on 4 eggs) + all the other regular breeding species
Cheers John
Mark Walsh said
Sun Apr 24 5:32 PM, 2016
A quick walk from Hilltop/side farm to the quarry and back.
3 Chiffchaff 4 Willow Warbler 1 Whitethroat
1m and 1f Wheatear field right of the picking rods path.
7 more Wheatear in Derbyshire. Along with one Buzzard
Cheers
Mark
Robert Adderley said
Wed Apr 20 1:23 PM, 2016
This morning -
Buzzard -3
Kestrel - 2
Curlew - 2
White Wagtail - 1
Wheatear - 2
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Willow Warbler - 8+
Chiffchaff - 2
Lesser Redpoll - 1
Reed Bunting - 1
Andy Bissitt said
Sun Apr 17 2:06 PM, 2016
Only new arrival this a.m. appeared to be Lesser Whitethroat (heard and seen), near the gorse bush on the left of the road about 50 meters short of Clough End farm (walking from west).
-- Edited by Mark Walsh on Friday 15th of April 2016 05:27:37 PM
John Rayner said
Wed Apr 13 3:06 PM, 2016
Wheatear 6 (5m, 1f) Linnet 5 (my first of the year up here) Raven 2 Kestrel 2 Snipe 2 Sparrowhawk 1 Willow Warbler 1 Golden Plover (heard) Green Woodpecker (2 heard)
Cheers John
Mark Walsh said
Sun Apr 10 1:15 PM, 2016
Late post for yesterday.
Had a walk around the area during the afternoon with plenty of birds about for me to watch;
5 Chiffchaff 1 Willow Warbler singing 1 little grebe (only heard) 1 Teal 3 Buzzard's 1 Sparrowhawk 2 Kestrel 1 Raven (heard) 3 Curlew 10 Lapwing (plenty more in Derbyshire) 2 Tree Sparrow 11 Meadow Pipit 4 Skylark 2 female Wheatear 1 Green Woodpecker (heard)
John's post reminded me that while I had made a visit to Ludworth Sunday evening I have not as yet posted the sightings;
3 Curlew 7 Skylark 28 Meadow pipit (one decent flock of 25 plus a few others) 1 Kestrel 2 Green Woodpecker 3 Goldcrest
Sadly a bit of rain meant I left a bit earlier than intended.
Cheers
Mark
John Rayner said
Mon Apr 4 1:34 PM, 2016
Wheatear 2 (m,f) Chiffchaff 3 Siskin 8 Pheasant 5 Green Woodpecker (H) Kestrel and Buzzard
Cheers John
John Rayner said
Thu Mar 31 2:41 PM, 2016
Much the same as Mark's sightings except no Raven for me.
However, I did see 5 Wheatears (male and female near Picking Rods and 2 males, 1 female below quarry)
Assuming I missed one of Mark's 3 there were at least 6 up there. I did exactly the same circuit yesterday and found none so presumably they arrived overnight.
Cheers John.
Mark Walsh said
Thu Mar 31 1:10 PM, 2016
First Wheatear's of the year seen in the right hand field heading up to the picking rods, three in total.
Other than that there were,
1 Raven in Derbyshire initially but flying towards the quarry area 9 Skylarks most in song 7 Meadow Pipit's several parachuting 1 Curlew 23 Lapwing 3 Golden Plover 2 Reed Bunting both male 2 Buzzards over Brownlow 2 Chiffchaff heard near Cloughend
Cheers
Mark
Mark Walsh said
Mon Mar 28 5:14 PM, 2016
A very brief call up this afternoon in-between showers, just up the path from Gun Road to the picking rods and back in the hope of some Wheatear........no luck on that front.
There were plenty of Lapwing displaying with a Single Golden Plover amongst them. Additionally there were 3 Skylarks singing and 2 Meadow Pipits.
Perhaps the weather will be clearer tomorrow allowing me to conduct a more serious search.
Cheers
Mark
-- Edited by Mark Walsh on Monday 28th of March 2016 05:18:01 PM
John Rayner said
Fri Mar 25 9:09 PM, 2016
Further to Mark's sightings:
2 Ravens 61 Lapwings At least 7 Skylarks in song flight 9 Meadow Pipits 1 Grey Heron 4 Snipe 2 Pheasants
Cheers John
Mark Walsh said
Fri Mar 25 6:05 PM, 2016
An afternoon walk to take advantage of the good weather. While up there I bumped into Mr Raynor and we had a search around the area from the quarry to Far Bradshaw and back via the Cown Edge way.
Plenty of Meadow Pipits parachuting The odd Skylark in song 2 Reed Bunting 2 Buzzards 1 male Stonechat at Far Bradshaw 1 Curlew c30 Golden plover in flight 3 Snipe
Additionally I had 1 Kestrel and both male and female Bullfinch as I headed back to the car, while there was 1 Tree Sparrow on the feeders at Larkhill.
Cheers
Mark
Geoff Walton said
Fri Mar 25 5:01 PM, 2016
11.am
1 Kestrel hovering
1 Curlew Flying
4 Lapwing
Skylarks heard
John Rayner said
Sun Mar 13 6:58 PM, 2016
Another thank you to Andy.
16.15: 2 Stonechat still in the Smithy Lane area
Also: Curlew 8 (Pistol Farm area) Fieldfare c70
Cheers John
Mark Walsh said
Sun Mar 13 3:40 PM, 2016
Afternoon walk around the picking rods area and the quarry with some lovely weather and plenty of birds about:
8 Skylark all of which were in song 2 Meadow Pipit c50 Fieldfare heading east 7 Lapwing displaying (plenty more in Derbyshire) Good numbers of Starling c100 in GM with more again in Derbyshire 1 Kestrel 4 Buzzard 2 Raven calling high over the quarry 1 Curlew heard 1 Bullfinch 2 Chaffinch
Finished up with a coffee in Costa.
This would have been the end of the post had I not checked what had been seen while in Costa, at which point I realised Andy had had 2 Stonechat and the Woodcock earlier in the day. As I was still quite close I decided to head back up and was rewarded with 2 Stonechat again in the horse paddock near Larkhill as well as 6 Tree Sparrow on the feeders (there looked to be more).
Cheers
Mark
Andy Bissitt said
Sun Mar 13 1:57 PM, 2016
This morning:
All of yesterdays birds (ex kestrel) seen in different numbers, but with two notable additions.
Pair of stonechats along the fence of the horse paddock next to Larkhill. One still there on return 90 mins later, flew towards Smithy Lane.
Woodcock (site first for me) in flight seen from quarry pond area flying low towards 'pylon scrub'. Was probably put up by three armed people using dogs in the large sloping field to the south east (several snipe also put up). I think they were looking for foxes lying low before lambs are turned out in the field (no interest was shown in the birds whatsoever).
Other than that, many of the usual cast were seen or heard (nuthatch, pr bullfinch, song thrushes, great spotted woodpecker). Very good morning.
-- Edited by Andy Bissitt on Sunday 13th of March 2016 01:58:23 PM
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 13th of March 2016 07:01:51 PM
John Rayner said
Sat Mar 12 12:36 PM, 2016
Tree Sparrow 2 (Larkhill) Starlings (large flock of c560) Raven 1 Buzzards 4 (3 together in dive bombing display flight) Lapwing 29 Skylark 6 (with 3 or 4 in full song and display) Kestrel 1
While it was quite sunny it was also breezy which probably wasn't the best weather for birding, nevertheless it turned out to be a reasonable call due to a Spotted Flycatcher near Cloughend Bungalow on my way back to the car. Other birds seen;
c40 Swallow's over the fields by Larkhill
2 Chiffchaff
3 Willow Warbler
1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
2 Buzzard
1 Goldcrest
2 Treecreeper
6 Golden Plover over the quarry
Cheers
Mark
A good number of Swallows over the fields
Counted 6 Swift as well
2 Chiffchaff
3 Willow Warbler
1 Grey Heron
2 Buzzard
1 Sparrowhawk
2 Tree Sparrow
1 Raven heard in the distance
Butterflies listed in 'other wildlife'.
Cheers
Mark
6 Skylarks
6 Mistle Thrushes
2 House Martins straight through
Whitethroats (3), Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Linnet all in song
Cheers John
Up to 20 golden plover,some in summer plumage,possibly one dunlin and several lapwing.
One whitethroat on path to picking rods and reed bunting,2 skylarks and meadow pipit.
Greenfinch,goldfinches and heron flying over.
-- Edited by Bill Beckwith on Friday 8th of July 2016 06:51:24 PM
-- Edited by Bill Beckwith on Friday 8th of July 2016 08:49:21 PM
Saw the Dunlin in amongst the Golden Plover flock in fine plumage, there were also 8 Swift flying above the path.
Had a brief walk over to the quarry where there were several Swallows darting around as well as numerous Chiffchaff and Willow Warblers in amongst the scrub.
Cheers
Mark
A single summer plumage Dunlin in with a flock of 59 Golden Plover (my first Dunlin up here). Poor photo attached, I was photographing insects and only had my macro lens.
Lapwings c90
Curlew (single flock of 13)
Skylarks (8 males singing)
Whitethroat (on Picking Rods track)
On the debit side the pools to the east of Gun Road have been dredged. That's probably screwed this year's emergence of Emerald Damselflies, Black Darters and Common Hawkers, but it may improve the habitat in the long term.
Cheers, John
Mostly just the expected species but a couple of highlights:
A juvenile Tawny Owl was mobbed by Blue Tits, Goldfinches, Bullfinches and Mistle Thrushes.
A Peregrine flew over with 22 Swifts nearby.
Interesting to compare 2015-2016 surveys with the 2003-2009 breeding bird counts (per. Dave Evans et al). Lost as regular sightings are Snipe, Grasshopper Warblers, Sedge Warblers, Stonechats and Whinchats.
Cheers John
Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat - 1 of each
Curlew 2
Tufted Duck. A male. Unusual for here.
Lapwing 21
Reed Bunting. 4 singing males on territories.
Snipe. 1 perched on a fence post.
Linnet 9
Redpoll 1
Mistle Thrush. Family party of 5.
Plus usual breeding species.
Cheers John
4 Willow Warblers
2 Chiffchaff
2 Tree Sparrow
1 Common Whitethroat
1 Green woodpecker (though another bird was seen 5 minutes later a little further on, could have been the same bird could have been a different one)
1 Kestrel
1 Buzzard
Were the highlights of the walk.
Butterflies in other wildlife.
Cheers
Mark
Hi Julian,
I hope that it is rarer, but....
...overwhelmingly it is most likely to be a poor view of a Meadow Pipit or Skylark. If the illustration that caught your eye was a White-spotted Bluethroat your hovering behavioural description for that species doesn't really fit.
Cheers John
Most interesting thing was something I didn't see properly: I was looking towards Manchester, over the field above the old quarry to the west of the road. I saw a smallish bird rise from the grasses near the small pond for just a couple of seconds before it went back into cover. It seemed slightly larger than the reed bunting in that field, and seemed to be black with a white spot on its throat. It rose, hovered around briefly, then went back down. I didn't see it again despite regularly scanning, and due to my condition I'm not able to walk down for a scout around at the moment. Any ideas what it may have been? I did scan my bird guide but I'm not sure that it could be the bird whose illustration caught my eye...
A lot of bird life around though mostly heard as opposed to seen;
Several Willow Warblers and Chiffchaff calling
A single Garden Warbler singing by Cloughend (no lesser whitethroat this time)
Curlew calling
A few Redpolls
And a Buzzard high up
I'd hoped it might be a good day for Hobby but no luck.
Butterflies noted in other wildlife
Cheers
Mark
6 Linnets (3 pairs)
1 Sparrowhawk with prey
2 Common Whitethroats
1 Lesser Whitethroat
2 Golden Plovers
Numerous Willow Warblers, Lapwings, Skylarks and Meadow Pipits
Cheers John
2 reed bunting
2 kestrel
2 buzzards
Pair of linnet
Pair of raven
To my great surprise only the second bird I put bins onto today was an ARCTIC TERN. Flying NE over Larkhill bungalow.
Other sightings included,
Common Whitethroat 3-4
Lesser Whitethroat 2
Garden Warbler 1 (Cloughend)
Redpoll 2
Tree Sparrow 2 (1 near Cloughend Farm and the other at a new location for me - above the angler's pools on Sandhill Lane)
Cheers John
2 Curlew and 2 pied wagtail visible from the road as I cycled through this morning. Quite a few Lapwing around, though I feel that numbers are very much down on previous years, maybe by as much as 50%.
Lesser Redpoll 3
Bullfinch 2
Lesser Whitethroat 1
Common Whitethroat 1
Curlew 3
Golden Plover 21
Cheers John
11 Lapwing
c50 Golden Plover
5 Curlew
3 Buzzard
6 Swallow
2 Swift
1m + 2f Wheatear
2 Linnet
2 Tree Sparrow
3 Redpoll
6 Chiffchaff
7 Willow Warbler
2 Reed Bunting
6 Meadow Pipit
5 Skylark
1 Garden Warbler
1 Common Whitethroat
1 Lesser Whitethroat
Cheers
Mark
Lesser Whitethroat 1
Willow Warbler 4
Chiffchaff 2
Wheatear 6
Golden Plover c55
Swallow 7
Buzzard 3
Canada Goose 2 (female on 4 eggs)
+ all the other regular breeding species
Cheers John
3 Chiffchaff
4 Willow Warbler
1 Whitethroat
1m and 1f Wheatear field right of the picking rods path.
7 more Wheatear in Derbyshire.
Along with one Buzzard
Cheers
Mark
This morning -
Buzzard -3
Kestrel - 2
Curlew - 2
White Wagtail - 1
Wheatear - 2
Lesser Whitethroat - 1
Willow Warbler - 8+
Chiffchaff - 2
Lesser Redpoll - 1
Reed Bunting - 1
Only new arrival this a.m. appeared to be Lesser Whitethroat (heard and seen), near the gorse bush on the left of the road about 50 meters short of Clough End farm (walking from west).
Raven 2
Meadow Pipit 52 (inc flock of 42)
Skylark 4
Curlew 1
White Wagtail 1 (Just in Derbyshire)
Cheers John
2 Redpoll
4 Chiffchaff
4 Willow Warbler
2 Goldcrest
6 Skylark
9 Meadow Pipit
1 Curlew
15 Lapwing
43 Golden Plover
1 Green Woodpecker
Derbyshire
1 m Wheatear
c30 Meadow Pipit
Plus 1 Snipe.....I forgot that
Cheers
Mark
-- Edited by Mark Walsh on Friday 15th of April 2016 05:27:37 PM
Linnet 5 (my first of the year up here)
Raven 2
Kestrel 2
Snipe 2
Sparrowhawk 1
Willow Warbler 1
Golden Plover (heard)
Green Woodpecker (2 heard)
Cheers John
Had a walk around the area during the afternoon with plenty of birds about for me to watch;
5 Chiffchaff
1 Willow Warbler singing
1 little grebe (only heard)
1 Teal
3 Buzzard's
1 Sparrowhawk
2 Kestrel
1 Raven (heard)
3 Curlew
10 Lapwing (plenty more in Derbyshire)
2 Tree Sparrow
11 Meadow Pipit
4 Skylark
2 female Wheatear
1 Green Woodpecker (heard)
Cheers
Mark
Fieldfare 110 (superb plumage now)
Willow Warbler 2 (both singing)
Chiffchaff 4
Swallow 2
Wheatear 1 (male)
Curlew 2
Goldcrest 1
Cheers, John
3 Curlew
7 Skylark
28 Meadow pipit (one decent flock of 25 plus a few others)
1 Kestrel
2 Green Woodpecker
3 Goldcrest
Sadly a bit of rain meant I left a bit earlier than intended.
Cheers
Mark
Chiffchaff 3
Siskin 8
Pheasant 5
Green Woodpecker (H)
Kestrel and Buzzard
Cheers John
However, I did see 5 Wheatears (male and female near Picking Rods and 2 males, 1 female below quarry)
Assuming I missed one of Mark's 3 there were at least 6 up there. I did exactly the same circuit yesterday and found none so presumably they arrived overnight.
Cheers John.
Other than that there were,
1 Raven in Derbyshire initially but flying towards the quarry area
9 Skylarks most in song
7 Meadow Pipit's several parachuting
1 Curlew
23 Lapwing
3 Golden Plover
2 Reed Bunting both male
2 Buzzards over Brownlow
2 Chiffchaff heard near Cloughend
Cheers
Mark
There were plenty of Lapwing displaying with a Single Golden Plover amongst them. Additionally there were 3 Skylarks singing and 2 Meadow Pipits.
Perhaps the weather will be clearer tomorrow allowing me to conduct a more serious search.
Cheers
Mark
-- Edited by Mark Walsh on Monday 28th of March 2016 05:18:01 PM
2 Ravens
61 Lapwings
At least 7 Skylarks in song flight
9 Meadow Pipits
1 Grey Heron
4 Snipe
2 Pheasants
Cheers John
Plenty of Meadow Pipits parachuting
The odd Skylark in song
2 Reed Bunting
2 Buzzards
1 male Stonechat at Far Bradshaw
1 Curlew
c30 Golden plover in flight
3 Snipe
Additionally I had 1 Kestrel and both male and female Bullfinch as I headed back to the car, while there was 1 Tree Sparrow on the feeders at Larkhill.
Cheers
Mark
11.am
1 Kestrel hovering
1 Curlew Flying
4 Lapwing
Skylarks heard
16.15: 2 Stonechat still in the Smithy Lane area
Also:
Curlew 8 (Pistol Farm area)
Fieldfare c70
Cheers John
8 Skylark all of which were in song
2 Meadow Pipit
c50 Fieldfare heading east
7 Lapwing displaying (plenty more in Derbyshire)
Good numbers of Starling c100 in GM with more again in Derbyshire
1 Kestrel
4 Buzzard
2 Raven calling high over the quarry
1 Curlew heard
1 Bullfinch
2 Chaffinch
Finished up with a coffee in Costa.
This would have been the end of the post had I not checked what had been seen while in Costa, at which point I realised Andy had had 2 Stonechat and the Woodcock earlier in the day. As I was still quite close I decided to head back up and was rewarded with 2 Stonechat again in the horse paddock near Larkhill as well as 6 Tree Sparrow on the feeders (there looked to be more).
Cheers
Mark
This morning:
All of yesterdays birds (ex kestrel) seen in different numbers, but with two notable additions.
Pair of stonechats along the fence of the horse paddock next to Larkhill. One still there on return 90 mins later, flew towards Smithy Lane.
Woodcock (site first for me) in flight seen from quarry pond area flying low towards 'pylon scrub'. Was probably put up by three armed people using dogs in the large sloping field to the south east (several snipe also put up). I think they were looking for foxes lying low before lambs are turned out in the field (no interest was shown in the birds whatsoever).
Other than that, many of the usual cast were seen or heard (nuthatch, pr bullfinch, song thrushes, great spotted woodpecker). Very good morning.
-- Edited by Andy Bissitt on Sunday 13th of March 2016 01:58:23 PM
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 13th of March 2016 07:01:51 PM
Starlings (large flock of c560)
Raven 1
Buzzards 4 (3 together in dive bombing display flight)
Lapwing 29
Skylark 6 (with 3 or 4 in full song and display)
Kestrel 1
Cheers John
Lapwing 28
Reed Bunting 1
Kestrel 1
Fieldfare 18
Cheers John
Skylark 2 (with 1 singing from the ground)
Curlew 2 (bubbling calls)
Green Woodpecker 1
Rook 11
Snipe 3
Kestrel 1
Starling c80
But no sign of the Short-eared Owl seen and photographed on Saturday 27th (info thanks to Phil Moss)
Cheers John
Quick couple of hours from Larkhill up to Gun Road via the quarry then back past the Kennels and Hill Top farm.
There wasn't much at Larkhill bar several Chaffinch and a couple of blue tits, though there was a Kestrel hunting along the road side.
A bit further along the road I noticed a decent sized flock of Lapwing (c200) flying East.
The only other sighting of note was a single Raven over the quarry.
Cheers
Mark
3 Snipe
1m + 1f Bullfinch
3 chaffinch
2 Treesparrow
1 Kestrel
2 Skylark
2 Lapwing
Cheers
Mark
Brownlow: Tree Sparrow 3, Reed Bunting 3, Chaffinch, 6, Greenfinch 4
Larkhill: Tree Sparrow 7, Greenfinch 2, Chaffinch 4
Cloughend/Quarry area:
Green Woodpecker (female, gave good views whilst calling weakly)
Fieldfare 36, Redwing 14, Starling c50 (feeding together)
Siskin 5
Jay 2
Kestrel 1
Buzzard 2
Pheasant 2
Bullfinch (1 male, glowing in low, late afternoon sunshine)
Cheers John
Sadly there wasn't much to show for my perseverance, the highlight was 1 snipe over the quarry.
Other than that:
1 Sparrowhawk again in the quarry area
1m + 1f Bullfinch
10 Starling
1 lone redwing
1 Jay
and a great tit.
Maybe next time.
Cheers
Mark
Lapwing c110
Starlings c200
Redwing 14
Sparrowhawk 1
Bullfinch 4
Meadow Pipit 1
Cheers John
Nuthatch 2
Redwing 19
Green Woodpecker (H)
Magpie 15 (1 loose flock)
Bullfinch 3
Buzzard 1
Kestrel 2
Common Gull (feeding flock of 155)
Cheers John