A first-winter Dusky Thrush
had been identified late on 4th at Beeley in Derbyshire and with it
still present yesterday; Malcolm, Roger and I decided we would go. We left before dawn and drove through some
very heavy rain on route arriving at Beeley just before 09:00, knowing that the
bird was still present. However after
parking we discovered that it had been in the orchard since first light but had
just flown off.
Two birders said it had flown
off to the north and so we walked up School Lane to look for it. It started to rain quite heavily again and so
we took shelter under a conifer until it stopped and we then went to Dukes Barn
to view the orchard, hoping it would repeat its behaviour over the last few
days.
There was quite an anxious
wait of about an hour before it flew into one of the apple trees and began
feeding on the apples. It then gave some
nice views but spent most of the time on the far side and after about fifteen
minutes it flew off again.
First-winter Dusky Thrush
First-winter Dusky Thrush
First-winter Dusky Thrush
We hung around for the rest of
the morning having further views of it in trees and then on the ground but due
to my position and some branches lying on the ground I was unable to get any
decent photos, which was rather frustrating as I could see it rather well at
times.
Whilst we were on site there
were numerous Fieldfare and Redwing flying over and we also had a Sparrowhawk,
a Buzzard, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Raven and a Grey Wagtail of interest
but after some lunch we went up to Beeley Moor hoping to catch up with Red
Grouse.
It was rather bleak and windy
on the moor and with no sign of any Red Grouse we moved onto Cromford and after
parking walked south alongside the River Derwent. Malcolm had always seen Dipper here but the
water was quite high and after almost walking the full stretch of the best area
we were losing hope. Malcolm suggested
that we walk to the end of the wooded area and just as we began to continue
Roger found one not too far away. It
flew up river and as we walked back we saw it several times and I did manage to
get a few nice shots of it.
Dipper
Dipper
Dipper
When we got back to the car we
decided to have a walk alongside the canal before heading off for home. We hadn’t gone too far when Roger noticed a
few birds feeding at the top of an Alder, which turned out to be five Goldfinches. As we watched them another party of bird
joined them, which contained at least ten Siskin. We continued along the towpath seeing quite a
few Redwings but only one Fieldfare and also a couple of Mistle Thrushes and a
party of Long-tailed Tits before we turned back to the car park. As we got near the car park a Sparrowhawk
flew over and after a coffee we set off for home seeing a Buzzard and Kestrel on
route.
It was my second Dusky Thrush
in the UK, which took my year-list onto 249 and I wonder if I will get one more
to reach 250.
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