The Zoologist/4th series, vol 6 (1902)/Issue 738/Rough Notes on Derbyshire Ornithology 1900–1902

by John Gordon Dalgliesh

 

ROUGH NOTES ON DERBYSHIRE ORNITHOLOGY
1900-1902.

By the Rev. Francis C.R. Jourdain, M.A., M.B.O.U.

 

Before resuming these notes, it may be as well to put on record two incidents omitted from my last paper (Zool. 1900, pp. 428–431). Two Whimbrels and a single Curlew, which had haunted a bleak hill-top near Swinscoe for a day or two, were killed on April 30th, 1899. This was on the Staffordshire side of the River Dove, and is the only recorded instance in which the Whimbrel has been killed in Staffordshire, although Mr. R.H. Read saw a small flock in Sept., 1886. A Water-Rail's nest was found at Sudbury with three eggs, at the end of July in the same year.

 

1900.

An extraordinarily early arrival of Fieldfares was reported by Mr. J. Henderson from the high ground between Ashburne and Buxton. Small flocks were seen here by Sept. 6th, and a week or so later others were noticed at Bradley and Ashburne. This is the only occasion on which I have known these birds to arrive in the county before October. A young Lapwing which was sent to A.S. Hutchinson for preservation, from near Melbourne, was a pale buff or cream-colour all over, with the exception of a few white feathers. Later in the year another beautifully-feathered cream-coloured bird was caught alive on the sewage farm at Egginton, but unfortunately was not preserved; and other light-coloured individuals were seen, but not secured (G. Pullen). A Black Tern was killed in the late summer at Etwall, and a Great Crested Grebe shot at Osmaston-by-Ashburne.

A Corncrake was reported ('Field,' Jan. 5th, 1901) to have been shot at Clifton on Dec. 26th, but it is quite possible that the bird may have been a Water-Rail; a gentleman who saw the bird assured me that this was the case. Up to Christmas the weather was very mild and wet, and no snow fell till after New Year's Day.

 

1901.

A fair number of Woodcock were seen and shot in the Dove Valley in January. Three were killed in one afternoon at Norbury, where it is usually rather a scarce bird. On Jan. 17th (not 27th, as stated in the 'Field') a Bittern was shot at Spondon. The Wild Ducks at Osmaston began to breed exceptionally early, and a nest with seven eggs was found on Feb. 27th, and another with four eggs on March 2nd. On March 18th a Starling's nest between Bradley and Ashburne contained four eggs, quite a month before the usual date. Curiously enough, this was the same place where a nest was found in January, 1898, with nearly fledged young ('Knowledge,' 1898). On April 17th a Long-eared Owl was put off a newly-built Magpie's nest in Bradley Wood, near Ashburne, which proved to contain one young Owl, two hard-sat eggs, and three mice. The Redshanks, which are annually increasing their breeding range in the Trent and Dove Valleys, made their appearance this spring for the first time in the meadows between Norbury and Calwich. Near Calwich Grey and Pied Wagtails nested within a few inches of one another in the hollow left in the masonry of a wall for the insertion of a plank bridge. Kingfishers' nests were, I am glad to say, very numerous during this season on the Dove. Mr. Storrs Fox has already recorded (Zool. 1901, p. 270) the Little Bustard shot at Middleton Top, near Youlgreave.

On examining a Hawfinch's nest found on May 20th, the lining was found to be composed entirely of pigs' bristles. In suitable spots these birds are quite common, and several pairs may be found breeding within a space of a few hundred yards. They are, however, exceedingly shy, and forsake their nests very readily if eggs have not been laid. Deserted nests are at once dismantled, and the lining frequently removed, probably to help in the construction of another nest.

A Nightingale was reported to me as singing in the Holly Wood, Snelston, on the 21st, and Mr. W.H. Walton ('Field,' May 25th, 1901) mentions two in full song at Ockbrook, and another at Mickleover. The eggs in a Redstart's nest, taken at Thorpe on May 22nd, were distinctly spotted. This type occurs in Staffordshire and other parts of England, but I have not previously met with it in Derbyshire.

A Blackbird and a Thrush were sitting within a few feet of one another on the horizontal beams which supported the roof of a barn near Ashburne on May 29th. In both nests the eggs were pale blue, either entirely without spots, or with only a few faint rusty markings. The Thrush's eggs, which were hard-sat, had much more gloss than the Blackbird's, but in colour the two clutches were almost exactly alike. A pair of Great Crested Grebes, which had apparently bred, were killed at the end of May near Chellaston, and early in the year one of a pair was unfortunately killed at Kedleston, and probably prevented from breeding there.

Two nests of the Tufted Duck at Osmaston, examined on June 12th, contained sixteen and eighteen eggs respectively; but there were three couple of Ducks about the place, and only two nests at this time, though another was made subsequently.

A Willow-Wren was sitting on four eggs in the middle of a strawberry-bed at Clifton on July 3rd, a somewhat unusual position for the nest. A Common Tern was noticed hovering over the Dove at Hanging Bridge on Aug. 24th. On Sept. 15th a Wood-Pigeon's nest with two eggs was fouud at Clifton, but, late as this nest was, it was not the last record for the season, for a Goldfinch's nest at Marchington contained three young, almost ready to fly, on Oct. 2nd (W.T. Mynors).

This year Mr. W. Storrs Fox informs me that a Dunlin's nest with four eggs was found on the Redmires Moors, and one of the old birds shot for identification. Although the Dunlin has long been supposed to breed in this district, this is the first time that eggs have been actually taken. A cream-coloured variety of the Jackdaw and a Magpie, in which the black plumage was replaced by light brown, were recorded from the Ashburne district.

The great snowstorms of December drove many Red Grouse from the North Derbyshire moors in a southerly direction. In the Dove Valley packs were reported from Kirk Ireton (J.B.E. Blackwall), and a single bird was flushed near Cubley.

 

 

1902.

The year opened with heavy floods in the Derwent Valley on the melting of the snow. Near Matlock the river rose over ten feet. Here a Bittern was shot about Jan. 2nd, and early in February a Waxwing was also killed at Matlock Bridge (R. Hall).

At the beginning of March a flock of four or five Great Black-backed Gulls were seen at close quarters one misty morning in the Dove Valley near Alsop Station (J. Henderson). Several Great Snipe were shot in the course of the winter in the low country round Derby. A very pretty Blackbird, with a pure white head and bold splashes of white on the body, was sent to A.S. Hutchinson for preservation.

The Redshanks did not return to the meadow near Norbury where they nested in 1901, but two pairs were reported to me as nesting near Uttoxeter, on the Staffordshire side of the Dove; and Canon Molineux tells me that he found a pair breeding in marshy ground not far from Staveley; so that this species is beginning to establish itself in the north-east as well as the south-west of the county.

Both cock and hen birds were roosting in a Long-tailed Tit's nest at seven p.m. on April 28th. The nest contained eleven eggs, slightly incubated, and the head of one of the birds could be seen through the entrance-hole. The number of eggs in the Grey Wagtail's nest appears sometimes not to exceed three. A nest at Norbury contained three hard-sat eggs, and another at Repton three young birds.

A cock Pied Flycatcher was seen in the Callow Wood, near Ashburne, on May 4th, by Mrs. Henniker; and on May 7th a Cuckoo's egg was found in a Hedge-Sparrow's nest—rather an early date for a Cuckoo to lay in this district. Another Cuckoo's egg, found near Dovedale on May 31st, was laid in a forsaken nest of the Blackbird, which contained a single egg. A third, also laid in a Blackbird's nest near Ashburne, hatched out successfully, and the young Cuckoo expelled the Blackbird's eggs. Grasshopper-Warblers were even more numerous than in 1901. Two nests which I saw were placed in high tussocks of coarse grass, and were quite invisible from above without parting the grass. The Cuckoo's note was heard daily till July 9th, and on Aug. 28th Swifts were still flying around their nesting-place at Ashburne (A. Evans).

Early in the third week of August two Curlews (probably disturbed by the Grouse-shooting on the moors) made their way down the Dove Valley, and remained for a day or two near Mayfield.

A note appeared in the 'Field' of Aug. 2nd, from Mr. C.R. Gurney, stating that the Siskin had bred this year at Repton, in a low tree six feet from the ground, and that the eggs were fertile.

The year 1902 was remarkable for the cold and wet summer, and the unusually prolonged stay of some of our migratory visitors. The autumn song of the Chiffchaff was heard pretty regularly till Sept. 15th; and subsequently at intervals till Oct. 2nd, the latest date recorded for the county.