Thursday 15 March 2012

Cromford Canal (March 11th)

On Sunday I went back to Cromford for the second day running in the hope of viewing the hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes) that appear there every year. The hawfinch is a shy bird and is often seen feeding off the surrounding trees around the church yard and up to Willesley Castle, so I knew where to look. With little success I joined a few other birdwatchers and walked along the river to see what was about. I saw a fleeting glimpse of a kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), a grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea), a wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) and several dippers (Cinclus cinclus). I managed to get a photograph of the wren, and then the dipper. The dipper didn't seem at all concerned or threatened by my presence, it was a privilege to share the river for a short time with such a wonderful bird.

Wren
  
Dipper
The birdwatchers I'd spent the past half hour or so with were in Derbyshire for the day and they wished to see the bramblings (Fringilla montifringilla) at Bumper Castle but were not too sure how to get there. They followed my dad and I there and we got a few fleeting glimpses of them. Alongside the bramblings, we all got fantastic views of treecreepers (Certhia familiaris) and nuthatches (Sitta europaea).

Treecreeper


2 comments:

holdingmoments said...

Sounds like a great day out Anna.
The Dippers are lovely birds to watch.

Bob Bushell said...

The blog you've taken, my favourite is the Dipper, superb.