Birding Group Visit to Goyt Valley and Dane Bank Quarry 2 June 2026

The first outing of June for the birding group was to the Goyt Valley and Dane Bank Quarry. We had somewhat mixed weather and also mixed results. Our target birds here are always Pied and Spotted Flycatchers, Redstarts, Tree Pipits and, at the quarry, Ring Ouzel and Wheatear. We were disappointed in some of these but also had some success.

Although it was raining lightly when we arrived at the car park at the reservoir, it held off for a bit so we kept mostly dry for the fist 45 minutes or so. There were the usual Willow Warblers singing and we managed to get a good view of a couple of them. I also got a brief glimpse of a female Pied Flycatcher but no Spotted Flycatchers. Also no Redstarts – I can’t quite remember when we last saw Redstarts here?

We did get very good views of what looked to be an adult Treecreeper feeding a much smaller one and this was the first year tick of the day. We were prevented from taking our usual route down to the bottom of the valley to the river by the appearance of a busload of schoolchildren with their teachers; we judged that there wasn’t much point in walking behind them, so we took the high path and whilst scanning the far trees for a Tree Pipit, one appeared in a small tree directly above our heads so we got very good views of that, if a little blown out by looking at the sun behind it.

We got back to the car and started off for Dane Bank quarry looking forward to a loo stop at the car park further down the road. We were disappointed to find that it has been closed for a long time now so we headed off. On our way through the valley, I managed to get a brief glimpse from the car, of a Red grouse – another year tick. At the quarry the rain started to come down quite heavily. It didn’t stop us getting several Wheatears and a Meadow Pipits – again year ticks – but no Ring Ouzels, unfortunately. If they had any sense they would have been hunkered down away from the, by now, heavy rain.

As we got back to the car we saw and heard a curlew and it landed on the crest of the hill just by the car park giving us iconic silhouetted views. By the end of the day, despite the poor weather and absence of some of our target birds, we still got a good five year ticks; Wheatear, Red Grouse, Treecreeper, Tree Pipit and Meadow Pipit so not all that bas, after all.

We found a good little community pub called the “Poacher’s Inn” at Bollington where we had some lunch. It was not far from Pott Shrigley. The food was quite good and the beer war a local brew but the darkest available (excepting the stout) was quite passable.