Roger and I had planned a visit to Padley Gorge in Derbyshire today
hoping to connect with European Pied Flycatcher, Common Redstart and Tree
Pipit. I picked Roger up at around 07:00
and we headed north on the M1 to junction 29 and then headed west through
Chesterfield to Calver and then north to Padley. We didn’t see a great deal on route, a
Common Kestrel near Tibshelf and a Great Spotted Woodpecker over the road just
after we came of the motorway were the best, and we arrived at northern area of
Padley Gorge just after 08:30.
It felt rather chilly in the cool westerly wind and it was eerily quiet,
but we did have a pair of Grey Wagtails as we reached the stream. We passed over the bridge and then walked
south into the woodland, where there was some protection from the wind. Roger saw a Eurasian Nuthatch and I found a
Eurasian Treecreeper but there was no sign of any Pied Flycatchers. We saw two other birders in the wood who were
obviously hoping to photograph them and so we stopped on the path near
them. We didn’t see anything, and they
weren’t showing any interest and so we continued down the path where we met two
other birders who informed us they had seen a male near nest box four. We walked back up the track and they showed
us where the nest box was, and they went and joined the other birders. It wasn’t long afterwards when they were
clearly looking at something and so Roger and I joined them. They had the male Pied Flycatcher, which was
sitting on a branch not too far away and over the next twenty minutes or so we
had nice views seeing two briefly before they disappeared again.
Male Pied Flycatcher
Male Pied Flycatcher
We finally gave up on the flycatcher and walked further down the track to
an area where we had seen Redstart in the past.
We found another two Pied Flycatchers whilst we were looking for a
Redstart and two Eurasian Treecreeper performed quite well. As we walked further up the slope I heard a
Redstart singing but we were struggling to get near to it and so went down to
the path again and walked up the other side of the wall. We got closer to where it was singing, and I
was convinced it was in a tall larch but couldn't see it but then realised
there were two larches, one behind the other and I moved slightly to the right. I scanned the top of the second larch and
found the Redstart right at the top. I
provided direction to Roger and we watched it singing, although it was quite
distant, before it flew off. Pleased
with our success we went to the top of the gorge and out onto the heath where
we were hoping to find Tree Pipit.
Male Pied Flycatcher
Eurasian Treecreeper
It was still very quiet, although we did hear the Redstart again but
couldn’t locate it, and a Willow Warbler sang one occasion. As we walked back towards the car we heard a
Common Cuckoo and saw several Meadow Pipits but there was no sign of any Tree
Pipits.
Meadow Pipit
From Padley Gorge we drove the short distance to Upper Burbage and then
walked down the valley looking for Ring Ouzel.
We didn’t see any on the way down but found one as we walked back
towards the car, which was a male that allowed good views.
Male Ring Ouzel
Male Ring Ouzel
We had seen another birder as we walked down the path and he was coming
back when we saw the Ring Ouzel. We
spent a few minutes talking and he made us aware of a reserve near Redmires
Reservoirs, which are on the edge of Sheffield.
He had been the day before and seen several Wood Warbler but when we
asked for direction it appeared we would have to retrace our steps and then
make our way via Hathersage and then loop back towards Sheffield.
When we got back to the car we put Redmire Road into the Satnav and found
that we could get to the site by continuing along the road and then turning
left and that it was only about eight minutes away. We decided we should go and found Wyming
Brook Nature Reserve where he had seen the Wood Warblers.
After a bite to eat we walked down the track and after about half-a-mile
I heard a Wood Warbler singing. We
approached closer and it then took us about twenty minutes to locate the bird
on the hillside and it didn’t help as Roger could only hear it calling and not
singing. We did eventually get
reasonable views once we managed to pin it down. We didn't see much else whilst on site but
apparently there is also White-throated Dipper and Red Crossbill.
Once back at the car we decided to go back to Beacon Hill to look for
Tree Pipit as Roger had already seen one there and there had been other
reports. We arrived at around 16:20,
which is not the best time to find passerines, and when we walked up towards
the summit it was cold in the brisk westerly wind. There was very little song and there was no
sign of any Tree Pipit or anything else for that matter with a single Jay being
the highlight.
It had been a successful day with three year-ticks, Wood warbler,
European Pied Flycatcher and Common Redstart, taking my year-list onto 213.
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