Roger, Malcolm and I were
having a day in Derbyshire today where we were hoping to get a few
year-ticks. I was the designated driver
and as we left Roger’s a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew onto a tree at the
roadside but we saw very little else before arriving at Kinder Bank in
northwest Derbyshire.
Reports of Wood Warbler,
Redstart and Pied Flycatcher during the last week from this site, which was our
first visit, induced us to begin our day’s birding here. After parking in Bowden Bridge car park, we
walked along Kinder Road towards Kinder Reservoir. The habitat looked excellent with a stream to
our right and Kinder Wood to the left.
The wood looked ideal for Pied Flycatchers and the stream area was
suitable for Redstarts but birding wasn’t easy.
There was no access to the wood or to the stream and we had to do the
birding from the road. We heard Willow
Warbler and Blackcaps as we started to walk along the road and there was a Grey
Wagtail feeding in a wet area but there was no sign of the target birds. As we continued up the road we met a local
birder who indicated that he had seen a Pied Flycatcher in the area several
times recently but hadn’t seen them today.
As we stood talking he heard the male singing and then picked it up
further into the wood and we all had reasonable views of a nice male. He told that there were plenty of Redstarts
about and indicated where there was a pair just up the road but gave us
negative news on Wood Warblers, which had just appeared to move through this
year.
We thanked him for his help
and continued along the road and we hadn’t gone too far when I heard a Redstart
singing ahead of us. As we walked
further first Roger and then Malcolm picked up on the song but despite putting
some time we were unable to locate the bird.
Treecreeper
The other birder indicated
that there were pairs of Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers in the wood near the
reservoir and so we continued along the road having nice views of a
Treecreeper. The road took us over the
stream, where we found three more Grey Wagtails before continuing along a path
leading to the reservoir. The last
section to the reservoir was extremely steep and we were all exhausted when we
reached the top.
Having reached the top of the
path we spent some time looking for the Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers in the
wood but all we could find was a Jay and several Chaffinch. The reservoir typically held very little with
just two Canada Geese and a Black-headed Gull on the water but we did have a
couple of Common Sandpiper in flight and a Sand Martin, two Swallows and two
House Martins. We eventually gave up on
the Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers and headed off back down the track.
Looking back down the valley from the reservoir
Kinder Reservoir
Although it was much easier
going downhill, care was still needed as the path was uneven and it would be
easy to trip and fall. When we reached
the bottom of the steep section we continued along the roadway that leads to the
road we had walked initially so that the stream was on our left. A singing Blackcap took some finding but then
gave rather nice views as it continued singing at times in almost full
view. As we approached the area where we
had heard the Restart we heard it again and this time Roger found it singing
from the top of one of the taller trees.
Blackcap
Grey Wagtail
When we reached the car, we had
seen two of our target birds but they had been quite difficult and I suspect
that we would not have seen the Pied Flycatcher without the knowledge of the
local birder.
From Kinder Bank, we headed
north to the Glossop and then went south-east along Snake Road stopping on the
summit to look for Red Grouse. Although
Malcolm had seen then from here previously the habitat didn’t look promising
and it wasn’t too surprising when we could find any, in fact we didn’t see a
single bird.
I suggested that we continued
beyond Ladybower Reservoir to Strines where we have always seen Red
Grouse. After turning off the A57 we
found a parking area at the side of the road and it wasn’t long before Roger
found a female. Malcolm then found a
male whilst we were having lunch and we also had a couple of Curlew and a
female Pheasant escorting a brood of eight.
When we had finished our lunch,
we retraced our steps back to Ladybower Reservoir and turned south just as we
reached and headed for Hathersage.
Malcolm had a site for Ring Ouzel but we missed the turning and stopped
to view the River Derwent from the bridge just beyond the village.
There was a pair of Mandarin
on the river with the female escorting four young and there was also a female
Mallard with a brood. A Grey Wagtail
then flew over the stream and perched in a tree and began singing and just
afterwards I picked up a Dipper as it flew up stream and disappeared under the
bridge. We eventually had two Dippers,
seeing them on several occasions before we moved on.
At this stage Malcolm was
still convinced that the turning for the Ring Ouzels was beyond the bridge but
when we reached Grindleford he admitted that we had missed the turn. Roger and I had seen Ring Ouzel on a couple
of occasions at a site just beyond Padley Gorge and so we decided to head for
there. As we got closer to the site it
became apparent that it was the same site Malcolm had tried to get us to. He knew it at Hathersage Moor, whilst Roger
and I recognised it as Upper Burbage, which was what was on the information
board.
After parking we walked down
the track to view the rocky outcrop where we had seen Ring Ouzel previously but
all we could find were several Meadow Pipits, a Wren and a Robin. You can almost Padley Gorge from here and as
we sat admiring the view we heard a Ring Ouzel singing but it was some distance
away and we were unable to locate it.
Meadow Pipit
Meadow Pipit
Brown Silver-line
We went back to Padley Gorge
and after parking and an ice cream we walked the short distance to the wooded
gorge. As we entered the woodland area
near the gate we had brief views of a Nuthatch and dropping further down the
path I head a Pied Flycatcher singing and Roger heard it shortly
afterwards. It took some time before we
eventually located the bird when it the showed quite well even though it
remained towards the tops of the trees.
Whilst watching the flycatcher there were at least three Treecreepers in
the same area and I also heard a Redstart.
Pied Flycatcher
Pied Flycatcher
Pied Flycatcher
Treecreeper
Malcolm and Roger moved
further down the gorge to look for the Redstart, whilst I remained to tray and
photograph the flycatcher. When I caught
them up they had seen the Redstart briefly and just afterwards we had further
brief views but it then went quiet.
After a brief wait we started to move up the slope to reach the open
moor, when the Redstart started singing again and I then found it perched on
the top of a tree, which was visible from the path. Although it was quite distant we saw it quite
well as it remained at the top of the tree singing and it was still there as we
continued to head for the open moor.
Redstart
The walk across the open moor
back to the car was rather disappointing seeing just a Willow Warbler and a
couple of Meadow Pipits. After coffee and a snack, we made our way home seeing
our only Buzzards of the day just beyond Chesterfield. It had been a brilliant day weather wise but
the birding had been difficult, although a did get three year-ticks out of the
five hoped for at the start of the day.
