I was out with David and Roger
today and we were heading for Chatterley Whitfield in Staffordshire to
hopefully see a first-summer male Red-footed Falcon that has been present since
the 9th.
When we arrived on site there
were a few birders already present and they were watching the bird in a tree
alongside the road, although it was partially obscured.
First-summer Red-footed Falcon
It didn’t remain in the bush
too long before it flew across the field and settled in another more distant
bush and although further away the whole bird could now be seen.
First-summer Red-footed Falcon
It then remained in the bush
for the whole of our visit with the exception of it dropping onto the ground to
feed on one occasion, although whilst perched it was clearly looking for food
items.
First-summer Red-footed Falcon
First-summer Red-footed Falcon
Whilst it was only a
first-summer male it was still a cracking bird and very obliging, providing
excellent views.
A Black Redstart had also been
reported on a number of days and this was eventually seen rather well as it
perched on a fence near the entrance and occasionally dropping to the ground to
feed. It was a rather scraggy looking
female but still a nice bird to see on a day out.
Black Redstart
Black Redstart
Black Redstart
The area was an old coal
mining area and to get two good birds in perhaps an unlikely spot was excellent
but we saw very little else with a single Buzzard being the best. We had been on site for an hour and forty
minutes in which the falcon had only moved on two occasions and with the
weather showing no signs of improvement we moved on.
We made our way towards Leek
and then on towards Royal Cottage in the hope of seeing Red Grouse but we were
unable to find any at several suitable sites but we did see three juvenile
Stonechats at Swallow Moss.
Having no luck with the grouse
we moved on to Wetton Mill in the Manifold Valley where we were hoping to find
Dipper, Redstart and Grey Wagtail. When
we arrived it was still overcast and grey but we did have one or two sunny
spells during our visit. After a bite to
eat we walked to the mill to view the river and found a Grey Wagtail preening downstream
but there was no sign of the hoped for Dippers.
Our plan was to walk up stream along the valley and check out the
viewable areas of the stream for Dippers.
Whilst we were waiting for Roger I walked across the road to view the
area around a ford and we found a Treecreeper and Spotted Flycatcher. We walked a good way up the valley before
returning to the car seeing five Buzzards, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, two
Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler and another target bird a female-type
Redstart. We saw a Sparrowhawk flying up
stream as we walked back and we continued to the bridge over the river again
but there was still no sign of any Dippers but we did have a couple of Raven
and a juvenile Grey Wagtail.
Juvenile Grey Wagtail
Feeling a little disappointed
that we hadn’t seen a Dipper we decided to call at Milldale on the River Dove
before heading for home. When we arrived
there were quite a few people around and so we decided to walk down stream and
we hadn’t gone too far before we found a juvenile Dipper and then a second a
little further along. I did manage to
get a couple of shots of one of the birds, although the light was pretty poor
and I had to use a high ISO, which doesn't give the best results. There was also another Grey Wagtail along the
stream.
Juvenile Dipper
Young Dunnock
Young Dunnock eagerly accepting food form an adult
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