Today around 2pm - 2.45pm I pulled up for a tacho break in a little lay-by up on the tops of the A624 near Hayfield en-route from Chapel-en-le-frith to Glossop on this hot sunny day.
Within a minute of pulling over and putting the windows down I could hear a fantastic melodic and whirling song. - Ring Ouzel singing from a tree just down the valley slope. There was infact 2 birds that took off from the tree, came flying up the valley, over the wagon and continued way up the hill on the other side of the road and eventually disappeared from view into the Heather.
Other birds around... - Mistle Thrush 2 - Meadow Pipit 2 - Goldfinch 4 - Blue Tit 1 - few Woodpigeon over - Collared Dove 1 - few mixed Corvids (Rook, Carrion Crow, Magpie) - Willow Warbler heard and unbelievably I also heard a distant Cuckoo from way up the moor, I gave it a quick scan to see if anything stood out on the upland horizon or the fenceposts but nothing I'm afraid.
Walked around Hayfield, Sett Valley trail with the RSPB walking group.
Of note
Large Corvid flocks above car park and village, a mixture of Rook and Jackdaw - c120 Flocks of Siskin & Chaffinch c20 of the former and c10 of the latter c20 Black-Headed Gull over the overflow reservoir 2 Goosander 1m + 1f on also on overflow reservoir 1 Cormorant fly over Mixed flocks of tits - Blue and Great 1 Mistle Thrush 1 Pied Wagtail 1 Grey Heron near the water treatment Saw Dipper on 2 occasions, once flew under bridge in Spinnerbottom and then under the big bridge at the end of the trail 3 Long-tailed Tits c 10 House Sparrow
Nice day out, helped get rid of the cobwebs! Had a cold all week but think the walk may have cleared it.
Min. of 10 Red Grouse seen in an hours yomp along the Pennine Way on both sides of the Snake Pass today with Henerz Cook, in surprisingly deep snow - couple of feet - and an icy wind (though some sunny spells). Most enjoyable, exhilarating and, i have to say, invigorating.
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Timperley life list c. 89 (ish). Barn Owl 4.11.19, Green Sand 27.8.19, Little Egret 13.2.19, ringtail harrier sp 20.10.18, Fawn Yawn 15.10.18, Grasshopper Warbler 15.4.16, Tree Pipit 13.4.16, Yellowhammer 5.4.15, Hobby May '11, Wigeon Dec '10
Walk from Hayfield to Kinder Scout and back via Kinder Low. Didn't linger in woodlands, but were plenty of Willow Warblers there. High Lights: Peregrine 15 Red Grouse 2 Raven 3 Kestrel Buzzard Many Meadow Pipits
-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Wednesday 27th of July 2011 08:45:59 PM
usual moorland birds (skylarks, meadow pipits etc) plenty of curlew usual finches and tits in brief woodland 1 hobby/peregrine at eye level (i was high on a hill though!) which i thought was a hobby until it stooped and promptly dissapeared. So i concluded it must have been a peregrine (?) the best birding came from the campsite however with: 2 mistle thrush grey wagtail pair nesting under bridge on a stream that ran along the campsite which were joined by two dipper - one stonking parent (2-3 yards away) and a juvenile. 1 gsw in trees around campsite
but think the walk may have cleared it. 