The past few days have seen some heavy snow, resulting in 5 -10cms across Derbyshire, the worst snow conditions for a number of years. On the 8th December I made a trip up to Derwent Dale, as there had been a flock of Parrot Crossbill regularly visiting an area of open woodland near “Windy Corner”. Conditions were freezing cold and heavy snow had fallen making driving conditions along the road into Derwent Dale very hazardous. After several hours of waiting, the flock of 12 Parrot Crossbills put in a very brief appearance. The Parrots provided me with a long awaited […]

A round-up of the last weekend’s Birding Trips. I have visited several sites over the past few days, including Rutland Water, Bridlington, Covenham and Cropwell Bishop in Nottinghamshire, as there have been a few good birds around including Red-necked Phalarope, American Wigeon, Red-necked Grebe and Great Grey Shrike. The mild weather has also seen many insects still on the wing and at Rutland Water on the 19th November, I saw a Migrant Hawker dragonfly, my latest ever. Still a few Peacock and Red Admiral, truly amazing. My Year List is now on a modest 240 American Wigeon – drake – Rutland Water […]