November Record

With a cooler period of weather mid week we had a November record of birds feeding in the garden on the 6th. Twenty three species fed during the day including 17 Goldfinches, 2 male Bullfinches, Wren, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Jay and the first Nuthatch of the year.

I saw my first Fieldfare of the winter on the 5th which is a very late date. Less than ten miles from Castleton, as the crow flies, is Winter Hill and the Horwich moors where, in the last week, 25000 Fieldfares have been counted heading South! It seems strange that only one bird has been tempted to stay by the abundance of local berries.

Last weekend on the moors above Uppermill three Rough Legged Buzzards from Scandinavia had taken up residence. I am not normally a twitcher but on Monday I drove over to have a look. Unfortunately whilst one bird was still present it came no nearer than eight hundred yards and I had to make do with the abundance of local Red Grouse, so much for twitching! Click here