Hardly worth mentioning really, but my personal recording area for the 'moor' has always been from Glossop Rd eastwards, so I have to mention a new bird for the area (as far as I am concerned). A kingfisher was on one of the Fishponds near to the lay-by. Rest of walk up to and along Ernocroft Lane, round back to Glossop Rd had nothing special, apart from 8 or 9 linnets near to Ernocroft farm which are always a bonus these days. Also recorded chiffchaff, grey wagtail, treecreeper, goldcrest, rook and buzzard amongst others.
A.M. As there seem to be so many Tree Pipits being reported recently I thought I would try the quarry area again this morning. Bad idea as it was crawling with kids with huge backpacks doing Duke of Edinburgh or orienteering or something. So I resorted to a bit of insect photography and saw few birds.
P.M. A text from Mark Walsh (ta!) reported that the Barn Owl was still in the quarry so it must have withstood quite a load of disturbance this morning. I nipped down to photograph it.
Otherwise quiet with a flock of Lapwing (67) this morning and Buzzard, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk this afternoon.
A superb Barn Owl roosting in the quarry until I accidentally flushed it. Goldfinch flock of 71 (flushed from thistle heads by a Kestrel they then perched on wires for an accurate count) Lapwing 44 (flocks of 25 and 18) Black-headed Gull 32 Meadow Pipit 9 only Whitethroat 1 Kestrel 3
Best today was a distant female/juvenile Merlin that flew over Gun Farm scattering the Meadow Pipit flock. Meadow Pipit flock size down to c30 Skylark 3 Large Pied Wagtail flock (24) contained a couple of White Wagtails Swallow flock near kennels c55 Snipe 4 Curlew 2 Blackcap 1
I had originally planned to walk from Larkhill down Girdlane and then cutting over to the quarry due to some success in that area on Friday. Unfortunately I had to change my plans to parking up near the PR path and heading around the quarry. That changed as well when I noticed the trail bikers around the area. In the end I decided that heading over Cown Edge would be best.
There was a reasonable amount just along the Picking Rods path with;
17 Goldfinch 6 Meadow Pipit 7 Linnet 1 Pied Wagtail and 2 Wheatear stopping off on the way south
All seen in GM.
Other Wildlife in the relevant thread and Cown Edge stuff in the Derbyshire sightings.
Friday turned out to be a decent day;
1 Female Redstart 1 Spotted Flycatcher 230 Lapwing 160 Starling Around 60 Swallows moving SE in small groups. One larger group of 80 at the Kennels. 72 Goldfinch along the PR path with a further 100 at the Kennels again. 20 Meadow Pipits 6 Chiffchaff 1 Wheatear
Either side of mid-day there was not a lot happening but I was photographing insects so looking down rather than up. Then the trail bikers arrived and put an end to proceedings:
A large Lapwing flock of c230 c100 Starlings feeding with Lapwing One Sand Martin straight through south Small passage of 21 Swallows Fly-over Cormorant Chiffchaffs 11 Willow Warbler 2 Redpolls 6 Goldfinch c30 Great Spotted Woodpecker 2 Only 7 Meadow Pipits
Seemed much quieter than last Sunday. So much for migration! Apart from 'local' warblers and hirundines still around, just one spotted flycatcher as per last week (very similar spot, but as it was not reported since then, I presume a different bird). Good job the sun was shining so that insects could step up to the mark (see other wildlife if interested).
Hobby hunting Goldfinches over Cloughend Farm (still plenty of small passerines in the general area so it may stick around) Ravens 7 (with gulls and corvids near Gird Lane) Tree Sparrow 8 (Larkhill) Redpoll 9 Swift 4 Collared Dove 8 Goldfinch 26 Meadow Pipit 12 Swallow 18
A bit of an extended walk from Larkhill - Lakeside - Chatterton Ln - Pistol Fm - Picking Rods - Quarry and back along the road to the car.
Highlight was a Hobby as I was almost back to the car, noticed a BoP for a brief moment near Cloughend and cursed my luck as it disappeared behind tree's, luckily it came out again heading my way.
Other than that;
31 Swift with a small number of House Martins mixed in. 17 Swallow 3 Chiffchaff 3 Linnet Then Singles of Curlew, Buzzard, Kestrel, Meadow Pipit and Lapwing.
As the weather was so nice I decided to call up to Ludworth for a bit of a circular.
10 Curlew seen throughout the day, though 6 was the largest number seen at any one time. c120 Lapwing. Lots of Swallows over the fields. Only 3 Swift though. 10 Skylark 7 Meadow Pipit 5 Mistle Thrush 4 Pied Wagtail 3 Chiffchaff 3 Nuthatch 2 Tree Sparrow 2 Reed Bunting 2 Linnet
Distinct lack of birds of prey, didn't even hear a Buzzard.
A soggy walk in the rain from Larkhill to the Picking Rods and back via the quarry. Into the cloud base at the Picking Rods so visibility was not the best. However...
Curlew 7 Oystercatcher 2 Snipe 4 (a long time since I have heard the 'wicka, wicka, wicka' call up here) Lapwings c85 Golden Plover c55 Reed Bunting 4 Skylark 6 Meadow Pipits c10 Starling c150 Linnet 1 juvenile Pied Wagtail 7 Bullfinch 2
Birds singing: Song Thrush, Blackbird, Wren, Willow Warbler, Chaffinch
Birds carrying food for young: Reed Bunting, Skylark, Meadow Pipit,
Headed over to Coombes edge yesterday afternoon/evening, saw a few birds of note while walking up the Picking Rods path.
2 Oystercatchers and 1 Snipe but no Golden Plovers seen (one heard in the distance) 2 Male Reed Bunting a few Swift, Skylark and Meadow Pipit. 1 Curlew heard over towards Far Bradshaw. 21 Lapwing
Gird Lane/Smithy Lane Farm/Cloughend/Quarry/Sandhill Lane
Green Woodpecker 1 (Off Smithy Lane) Tree Sparrow 3 (1 Smithy Lane Farm, 2 April Cottage. The latter collecting pine needles as nesting material) Whitethroat 4 Blackcap 2 Willow Warbler 5 Garden Warbler 1 Chiffchaff 3 Buzzard 4 (1 juvenile with prey with 2 adults overhead. A tail-less 4th was soon seen off the premises) Swallow 7 Lapwing 14 (inc 3 juvs) Reed Bunting 3 (carrying food for young) Bullfinch pair Swift 4 Curlew and Raven heard
A couple of good butterfly sightings on othevwildlife
Lovely evening walk round the moor, didn't see any wheatear but in addition to the "expected" birds such as Plover, Curlew, buzzard etc we did have two unusual spots: at the end of the evening we saw a pair of oystercatcher, and at the beginning we saw a pipit the we struggled to identify. It was a lot lighter coloured than a meadow pipit, and was not as heavily speckled on the chest. There was a red blush to the chest, but nothing as heavy as the pictures I've seen of the red throated pipit: more, the red blush was only on the chest, it didn't extend to the head. No pictures sorry. Any suggestions as to what it might have been would be welcome
EDIT - forgot to mention that from Cown Edge overlooking the quarry we heard (but did not see) both cuckoo and tawny owl
-- Edited by Julian Winstanley on Thursday 25th of May 2017 08:58:51 AM
Called in this morning to look for the ring ouzel on my cycle commute, circa 8am. No sign of anything at all in the field - in fact it was fairly quiet in general all the way over from Mill Brow right to Charlesworth. In addition to the corvids and small passerines, I only saw a handful of lapwings and a few gulls (black-headed in the main) and heard a couple of skylark. No sign of curlew at all
I was up this afternoon and noticed the ploughed field, what's left of the 'moorland' habitat is dwindling year after year. Considering this is the only moorland habitat in the borough it's a real shame.
I started at Larkhill and moved down Gird Ln heading for Cloughend, once I noticed the ploughed field though I didn't have the heart to go on so missed John's Oystercatcher.
Several Willow Warblers and Chiffchaff around. 2 Buzzard 3 Mistle Thrush 8 Swallow 1 House Martin 1 Green Woodpecker 1 Great Spotted woodpecker 1 Blackcap 3 Redpoll 2 Linnet 1 Garden Warbler (this one down Gird Ln)
After seeing the Dotterel in with Golden Plovers near Danebower yesterday I thought I would check out our local flock, but after recent 3 figure counts of GPs I could only find low numbers today.
Golden Plover 7 Wheatears 5 Oystercatcher 1 (I think my first up here) Garden Warbler 1 Whitethroat 1 Redpoll 4 Great Spotted Woodpecker drumming Mixed corvids c150
A couple of items of bad news to report.
Another field of rough grass and scattered rush clumps has been ploughed in to make yet another sheep pasture. This was the field that held the large Wheatear flock earlier this year.
Gunshot from the fields above where the Ring Ouzels were caused c150 mixed corvids to take to the air. I could see the shooter in an orange/brown Land Rover type ,pick-up vehicle. Never saw a bird fall to the ground but an immature Lesser Black-backed Gull was fluttering helplessly in the sheep field. The guy got in his vehicle and attempted to dispatch it by driving over it. Missed first time and had to circle round to get it second attempt. Then drove off. Scum!
I called by at 9:15, on the way home from my BBS count on Mellor Moor. A male Ring Ouzel is still showing well from the top of one of the large hawthorns on the grassy bank opposite Hillside Farm. Two Wheatear were on the stone wall just beyond this.
Main highlights: 10 Wheatears 1 Whinchat 96 Golden Plovers (An under-estimate. These were counted on the ground but the flock looked well over 100 in flight)
Cheers John
John,
I was up there yesterday and, if I had gone online (which I didn't) was going to say that there was at least 95 golden plover, so I think about 100 is accurate. Didn't see any whinchats though (sadly).
Main highlights: 10 Wheatears 1 Whinchat 96 Golden Plovers (An under-estimate. These were counted on the ground but the flock looked well over 100 in flight)
Two short walks in bright sunshine and a bitter wind.
I went to see the Ouzels, but I'm not sure I went to the correct spot.
From Sandhill Lane I went up a footpath opposite Smithy Lane ,which on the OS map appears to be called Dirty Lane.
A cuckoo was calling from Brown Low Wood, and near the top of the hill I did see an Ouzel, along with one Whinchat and two Wheatears on the way up.
I then tried the quarry end of Ludworth Moor.
The woods were full of life, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Greenfinch, Gold Finch, Chaffinch, Song and Mistle Thrushes. A bit further on there was a Canada Goose in the pond.
I followed the footpath on my map until I lost it and returned. I only saw Mippits, Wheatears and Lapwings on the open ground.
Two new year ticks tho' so it was a good trip out.
Ring Ouzel, 2 Whinchats and 9 Wheatears all present and correct at 10.15. A 10th Wheatear at start of Picking Rods track. Didn't check the main areas below quarry.
Also attached are a couple of photos of the Ring Ouzel taken by Roy Peacock (I am sure he won't mind me posting them here)
Quite a twitch this morning in glorious sunshine with 7 cars visiting Hillside Farm.
2 male and 1 female Ring Ouzels
56 Golden Plovers
4-5 Wheatears
3 Ravens
3 Lesser Redpolls
2 Linnets
2 Buzzards
Plus usual breeding species.
Cheers John