16th May 2020
Crich Trig Point.
I strolled down to the Cromford Canal on my own, and then up through Lea Wood on a grey day, water standing in puddles around. The trees were thick now and there were few splashes of colour in the herb layer. I made my way along a fenced path across a parkland estate, ascending to the village of Upper Holloway, signs proclaiming its status as a 'village in bloom,' Its gardens were bright and alive with vivid cultivated flowers, and the paths and alleys on which I continued my ascent were lined with wild Forget Me Nots and Comfrey and Bluebells.
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| Bluebells in Upper Holloway. |
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| Mining Bee spp. Seen near Upper Holloway. |
After crossing a few sheep fields, as the clouds parted I joined the curving path from the road to the memorial and the trig point. The smell of may blossom filled the air. A Spotted Flycatcher and a pair of Bullfinch were about. I crossed the tracks of the Crich Tramway village, where, in different times, preserved trams take visitors on short rides.
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| Spotted Flycatcher at Crich. |
Now I must confess I hadn't known what the Pepperpot building which looks down on Matlock and Cromford from its commanding hilltop to the East actually was. A distinct landmark, unknown. It is a memorial to the soldiers of the Sherwood Foresters, a British Army regiment whose soldiers hailed from the Midlands. The men of the regiment served bravely in the First and Second World Wars, the unit's name is inscribed on many a war memorial hereabouts. The memorial can be seen for several miles, and the views from the hill are commanding. Belper, Derby and the wider countryside spread out below me. I wasn't the only one there. A couple embraced on the grass beside the memorial. A sombre looking man respectfully took down the flags which flew at the site entrance for safe keeping as evening approached.
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| View from Crich. |
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| Sherwood Foresters Memorial. |
I hung out with a handsome crow for a while, and had my lunch, and drank in the expansive vista, and some tea, and then I headed down again, via further woodland, where some fellow walkers were looking for a site used in the filming of the Children's drama 'Stig of the Dump.' I regret only the book was a part of my childhood, the 1981 and the 2002 versions both neatly avoiding me.
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| Did Stig of the Dump wander among these Ramsons? |
I reached the Cromford Canal again as the sun was setting, and walked back, fish spotting. A huge, lone Perch, a neatly striped fish with two big dorsal fins more familiar as shoaling juveniles, big enough to be an ambush predator, hung motionless in the water. A few hundred yards on, I watched a Little Grebe fishing in the clear water, astounded by the speed they can do underwater. My word those things are fast. The terrors of the minnows. Clouds of Mayflies were hatching and danced in the evening sun over the water.
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| Mallard on Cromford Canal. |
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| Mayfly Hatch on Cromford Canal. |
As I strolled back over the hills I reflected on how far I had just walked.
Birds Seen: Canada Goose, Mallard, Tufted Duck, Little Grebe, Buzzard, Moorhen, Black Headed Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Raven, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Swallow, House Martin, Long-Tailed Tit, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Wren, Nuthatch, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Mistle Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Robin, House Sparrow, Dunnock, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Goldfinch.
Not Birds Seen: Brown Hare, Rabbit, Grey Squirrel, Brown Rat, Perch, Common Blue Damselfly,
18th May 2020
Wirksworth to Carsington
On a greyish, intermittently breezy day, I made my way via Stoney Wood, where abundant Dingy Skipper were on the wing despite the weather. There were a few fledgelings about, as Spring turns into Summer, a brood of robins up on the top path. I continued down to Carsington, where the visitor facilities remained closed, that now familiar refrain, 'due to the Pandemic.' However a public footpath skirts the South-Eastern bank of the lake, according to my OS Map, and who am I to doubt it. It was curious to see the area around the visitor centre so abandoned, car parks empty and fenced off, Stones Island with its sculptures unattended, and the grass, normally host to families, noisy youngsters and playful dogs, now totally and utterly reclaimed by Canada Geese. Though a few small crowds of humans were pootling about, as well as the odd jogger, the Reservoir seemed to belong largely to fluffy Goslings and Spotted Flycatchers. Willow Tits had fledged youngsters, encouragingly. This is a scarce species which seems to thrive at Carsington.
This walk was among the first in which no year nor lockdown bird list ticks were had. A Great Crested Grebe floated with some striped 'humbugs,' the distinctive young of this charismatic and familiar water bird.
Stoney Wood Bird Sightings: Jay, Jackdaw, Great Tit, Swallow, Nuthatch, Robin + Fledgelings, Goldfinch (Singing)
Stoney Wood Butterfly Sightings: Dingy Skipper (5), Green Veined White (2)
Carsington Water Bird Sightings: Canada Goose, Barnacle Goose, Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Gadwall, Mallard, Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Buzzard, Moorhen, Coot, Oystercatcher, Lapwing, Black Headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Woodpigeon, Swift, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Willow Tit (+Fledgelings), Blue Tit, Great Tit, Skylark, Sand Martin, Swallow, Long-Tailed Tit, Chiffchaff, Reed Warbler, Whitethroat, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, Robin, Redstart, Dunnock, Pied Wagtail, Meadow Pipit, Chaffinch, Bullfinch, Goldfinch, Reed Bunting.
Mammals: Grey Squirrel, Rabbit.
Butterflies: Large (Cabbage) White, Green Veined White, Brimstone.
19th May 2020
A Stroll to Bolehill (Contains description of predation)
A breif hour or so out of the house in beautiful sunshine brought the unexpected. Beneath an old, gnarled Oak tree beside the footpath, a few small birds were feeding on the ground, a typical mixed crowd of tits and finches. A Great Spotted Woodpecker dropped in, I assumed to join them in preying in whatever small insects could be found there. Repeatedly it stabbed the ground, as the smaller birds took flight, chattering, and then it was up, with a small dead bird in its bill. Downy feathers drifted on the breeze. The bird, a Great Tit, was unceremoniously hammered into a crack in the bark by the Woodpecker's bill. The Woodpecker returned twice during the following ten minutes or so to peck at the carcass. An adult Great Tit was in the area with a food parcel for its youngster, one can but hope others survived. Passerine alarm calls abounded throughout. Woodpeckers are not unknown to take young birds, hammered out nest boxes are a telltale sign of Great Spotted Woodpecker predation, but this was the first time I had witnessed it with my own eyes, and not of nestlings either, but of a fledgeling.
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| Distant view of the Woodpecker enjoying its meal. |
Plenty of other birds were busy with the business of raising chicks. Blue Tits fed chicks in a nest box on the wall of a house in Bolehill Village. A newly fledged Woodpigeon hassled a weary looking parent for food in a street tree, and robins were busy stuffing invertebrates into the yellow gapes of speckled fledgelings.
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| Friendly Sheep |
I returned to the path beside the farm buildings, Ash Tree Farm or some such, and passed through a field of friendly sheep. As I crossed the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway, a Sparrowhawk flew over, a kill in its talons. Swifts whistled joyously in the clear blue sky, themselves predators on the aerial 'plankton.'
Birds Seen: Sparrowhawk, Woodpigeon, Swift, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crown, Coal Tit, Blue Tit (+nest w/ young) Great Tit (+Fledgelings, one eaten by GSWP) Swallow, Blackbird, Robin (+Fledgelings) Dunnock, Chaffinch, Goldfinch
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