Eleven members gathered at Grindleford Station, and were rapidly made aware of the first disadvantage of the still overcast weather – midges! However, once underway, we seemed to be able to keep ahead of the little pests. Early on, we gained an extra member (a cat) who accompanied us for about a quarter of a mile, giving us the opportunity to study the alarm calls of a wide variety of birds. Eventually our canine friend dropped back clearly disadvantaged by a lack of ‘bins’.
The recent wet weather had made many of the paths extremely muddy and in addition, had encouraged huge growth of the under storey (see photo).
Livingston leading the porters
As we headed up towards the moor, and in spite of a good weather forecast, we experienced one of those showers that could only be described as persistent rain. Luckily, the weather improved greatly by the time we arrived on Lawrence Field moor and remained dry for the rest of the walk.
In spite of the disadvantages we still managed to clock up 40 species identified by either sight or call/song. The highlights included a Grey Wagtail, large numbers of Great Spotted Woodpeckers, a Green Woodpecker, Tree Pipits, Garden Warbler, Pied FlyCatchers, and Redstarts. However, the undoubted star of the show and the one which attracted most attention was the Wood Warbler (located at SK252793). Initially its unmistakeable song attracted our attention but then much to everyones’ joy, we got several excellent views (a lifer for some of the group).
Thanks go to Paul beard for leading the trip.