Reservoir Woods

I took a walk around one of my favourite reservoirs and it's woodland last week, and it was alive with birdsong and wildlife. There was plenty to see, even if some of my subjects didn't make it easy. Their song always gave them away, and helped me locate them. 

There were Pied Flycatchers and Common Redstarts, plus some bonus birds like the Garden Warbler, Sparrowhawk and Common Sandpipers. It was a lovely sunny day, and the temperature lifted nicely too. 

I found some nesting birds, and others in good locations. So that all bodes well for when I return in a few weeks time, to hopefully find some of them feeding young.

Common Sandpiper

Great Crested Grebe

Mandarin Duck

Nuthatch

Pied Flycatcher

Common Redstart

Sparrowhawk

Whinchat on the Patch

I had one of those days that you dream about when walking around your local patch last week. I always walk around in hope of finding something good, and usually go away satisfied that I've seen much the same as the previous day, and if the sun was out too, then that's a real bonus. But this day I turned up and straight away I heard a Lesser Whitethroat singing in the hedgerow. A great little bird, that's not often that easy to see, and very rare on my patch.

Then I continued my walk, with all the usual suspects singing or in position, until I spotted a bird jumping around the top of the hedge. I thought it might be a Stonechat, but then I saw the stripe over it's eye, and knew instantly that this was a Whinchat. A much prized bird for me, and I was absolutely delighted. So much so that I went back again that afternoon to see it again, and this time it was even closer and the right side of the sun. Superb!! It was still there the next day, but much further away and a scope was required. 

You can see my latest wanderings here:

Lesser Whitethroat

Stonechat

Whinchat

Summer Migrants

This years migration is well under way. I've made several visits to one of my favourite places nearby in the Goyt Valley, and I've not been disappointed. Pied Flycatchers, Redstarts and Tree Pipits are back where they belong and I've had fun trying to locate them, with varying degrees of success. So far, I have only located one or two male Pied Flycatchers. The females are always a little later, so I will have to go back to find them. I've also only found a couple of male Redstarts, but they are great little birds, and add so much colour and vibrancy to any day. Tree Pipits are not so colourful, but they make up for that with their song. All in all, the woodlands have a lot more sound and colour at the moment, and it's most welcome 😀

You can see my latest wanderings here: 

Pied Flycatcher (male)

Common Redstart

Tree Pipit