Birding Group Visit to Upper Goyt Valley and Danebower Quarry 21 May 2024
I always look forward to our visits to the Upper Goyt Valley and Danebower Quarry as we often get some special birds. This time we didn’t get any of the Flycatchers or Redstarts that we often get but we still managed to get six year-ticks.
As soon as you get out of the car at the car park you can always hear lots of Willow Warblers and it is usually only a few minutes before you can spot one or two. The same could not be said of some of the birds we specifically go to see. Although the Merlin Bird ID app (which everyone uses now) identified Redstart and we could also clearly hear Pied Flycatcher, we could not manage to get a visual on any of these birds, nor Spotted Flycatcher, all morning. This would seem to indicate a poor morning of bird watching but it was not without its high points.
We had only just started out when a Cuckoo was heard and we continued to hear it as we walked around our usual route. There was a lot of raptor activity and the start of this for us was the sighting of two Red Kites circling above us. Later we saw an encounter between a Sparrowhawk and another bird of prey which we could not identify and then again, later, a pair of Kestrels interacting.
On the road were a pair of Grey Wagtails who were obviously nesting nearby but, despite having bills full of food, would not go into their nest which we concluded was in the brick wall that lines the main road. We let them get on with and walked down the slope to the bottom of the river where we failed to find a Dipper. I walked to the upper path that runs parallel with the main road and almost immediately got a Tree Pipit which was singing in a bare tree on the horizon. Scoped views were good enough to ID the bird and the singing was clear enough to confirm the sighting.
The rest was just Chiffchaff, elusive Blackcaps and frustrating Pied Flycatchers- heard but not seen.
We had better luck when we drove down to Danbower Quarry. On the road through the bracken on the way to the quarry we got two Red Grouse and almost immediately we arrived at Danebower Quarry Anne spotted a male Ring Ousel. We got probably the closest views ever with the male bird foraging around the base of the stone tower. A little later, a female appeared and both very visible for long periods before they disappeared into a low bramble bush near the tower. I though this a bit of an unlikely place for a Ring Ousel nest but they went in with food and came out with none, returning to the same spot frequently. Clearly they already have a chick or chicks to feed.
A single Wheatear was bobbing around the top of the tower; a
So, not a huge number of species – just the 24 – but some really nice views of some of them and six year ticks to add to the list – Ring Ousel, Tree Pipit, Cuckoo, Red Kite, Wheatear and Red Grouse.
Bird Sightings : Upper Goyt Valley and Danebower Quarry 21 May 2024
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Blackbird | 1 |
| Blackcap | 1 |
| Canada Goose | 6 |
| Chaffinch | 2 |
| Chiffchaff | 1 |
| Cuckoo | 1 |
| Curlew | 1 |
| Great Tit | 4 |
| Grey Heron | 1 |
| Grey Wagtail | 2 |
| Kestrel | 1 |
| Mallard | 10 |
| Meadow Pipit | 4 |
| Pied Flycatcher | 1 |
| Pied Wagtail | 2 |
| Red Grouse | 2 |
| Red Kite | 2 |
| Ring Ouzel | 2 |
| Robin | 2 |
| Sparrowhawk | 1 |
| Tree Pipit | 1 |
| Wheatear | 1 |
| Willow Warbler | 3 |
| Wren | 2 |