In recent weeks the local Red Deer Stags at NT Calke Park, South Derbyshire have been very vocal. Their bellowing calls can be heard at great distance. Autumn is the time of year when the Stags engage in elaborate displays of dominance including roaring, parallel walks, and fighting. This behaviour is called The Rut, it […]
Any inland Diver is a rare find and usually one that is associated with the winter period. With Black-throated Diver now a very rare visitor to Derbyshire, last recorded in 2011 and Great Northern Diver now an annual visitor to my county, the Red-throated Diver in recent times seems to have gained second place status.
A Grey Phalarope, a small wader species that breeds in the high arctic and winters at sea, was discovered on the River Wye in the middle of Bakewell, Derbyshire, of all places on the late morning of the 25th October 2020. Just goes to show that rare birds can be found anywhere, along with an
A Rufous Bush Chat or Rufous Bush Robin, take your pick, was discovered at Stiffkey, in North Norfolk, during the early morning of Saturday 17th October 2020. It was the first time one had been seen in Britain for 40 years, so most modern day birders would want to see it. Needless to say the
This autumn has seen an unprecedented arrival of rare vagrant birds to our shores. Wind swept migrants from both North America and Siberia. Gems such as Yellow-bellied Flycatcher (1st record for Britain), Tennesee Warbler; Lanceolated Warbler, Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler, Taiga Flycatcher, Red-flanked Bluetail, Brown Shrike, Masked Shrike and so it goes on. One such vagrant
As the Lammergeier has been fairly site faithful to a 5 square mile area of Crowden during the past couple of months or so, I decide to have another trip for it today. A stunning morning but alas she came off her roost early, being spoofed by a Peregrine apparently. I just managed to arrive
A stunning male Red-backed Shrike has been faithful to a site at Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands for just over a week now. Red-backed Shrikes are very rare inland, so to have one within an hours drive of home was too good a chance to miss. I took the following photographs on 4th September
A leisurely walk today around the Egleton Reserve at Rutland Water was a welcoming change from my local patch. Just a few more birds to look at here! Great White Egrets were everywhere and I must have had a minimum of 11 birds, along with a minimum of 20 Little Egret and a Spoonbill. A
