On 31st October I found 4 juvenile Shags at Foremark Reservoir. Part of an inland influx after the recent storms and the first record in the county since 2020. One bird was colour ringed with a blue DARVIC ring. I managed to discover that it was from a ringing scheme in Scotland. Unfortunately the bird was always too distant to read the number. One bird was still present on 21st November and the corpse of one bird could be seen on the top of the draw-out Water Tower. No idea what happened there. Also on 31st October I found 3 Redhead Goldeneye at Staunton Harold Reservoir, the first ones of the year.
On 5th November a Glossy Ibis graced the flood waters at Swarkestone Causeway and could be viewed from Stanton-by-Bridge. The first since 2021. It was present several days until the flood waters receded, it then moved on.
On 21st November I met up with a birder friend who I had not seen for a number of years. Mike had moved down to Devon and was re-visiting family, so we met up for a morning’s birding. We discovered 6 Great White Egrets, a record count at Staunton Harold Reservoir, along with at least 15 Little Egrets, 141 Lesser Black-backed Gull, a Red Kite, a Kingfisher and a drake Pochard as other highlights. On 22nd November, I could only find 3 Great White Egret, along with a drake Goldeneye and 2 fly-over Wigeon.
By the end of November, Waxwings had finally started to arrive into Derbyshire. A flock had been present for a couple of days at Matlock and on 29th I had around 12 at Bull Lane, Matlock, very briefly before flying off and despite searching, they couldn’t be re-located.
