Midweek MEGA Dusky Thrush in Beeley

First views from our parking place 

Clearly a popular bird

Early afternoon view

Berry chomping

Twitchers in Beeley

Organised parking available for a great cause

Every angle taken

The Alcester Squires grabs a record shot

A stunning Fieldfare

I struggle to remember going to Derbyshire for any reasons other than to watch the cricket or attend confernces for work, ahhh yes.....and to twitch a Crag Martin in Chesterfield last year. Like everyone I was gob smacked to hear a Dusty Thrush had been found in a small village in the Peak District called Beeley by Rachel Jones, who had only been birding for 18 months, on Sunday afternoon from looking into her garden.

The normal array for texts and phone calls happened over the next 24 hours. You going ? When you going ? Who's driving ? Given the forecast for thick fog on Tuesday we opted for Wednesday. Although hopeful given the improved weather, the bird had become very elusive on Tuesday with a good number not been able to connect with it.

The team tactics proved spot on, leaving the Midlands at 8am to arrive on the stroke of 10am. It's hard to believe within a minute of parking up all four of us were watching the UK's 12th Dusky Thrush. 

I can say the other three connected in seconds as they abandoned the car leaving scopes and coats hanging out of the boot and not to mention the windows open ! Thanks lads. 

The birds super rarity status certainly attracted visitors from all over the country and all wonderfully received by the village of Beeley. The High Ropes Centre had organised hot drinks, hot sandwiches and cakes for the visitors and looked to be doing a roaring trade. Let's hope the bird sticks around as this sort of business can be a god send for small charaties. The bird is clearly feeding very well on the local apples & berries.

The Dusky Thrush was superb to see, we were all very spoilt. We managed to see the bird where we parked, in the orchard, perched high in east of village and also got two fly over views. The bird that breeds in Serbia and generally winters in south east Asia becomes yet another great bird seen in the UK this Autumn. Other sightings included large number of Redwings & Thrushes, Goldcrests and two Buzzards. The Thrush also became my 250th species seen in the calendar year.

This surely has to be the last great twitch of 2016.......quite a year. 

Crag Martin, Crooked Spire & a mighty hangover

My best shot of the Crag Martin

The Crooked Spire of Chesterfield

Spot the bird ?

Crag Martin on right

Two areas that Crag Martin is located

Chesterfield FC

I almost fell off the work chair when I saw an update from Rare Bird Alert at the beginning of last week that a Crag Martin had been found by patch birder Roy Frost flying around the Crooked Spire,Chesterfield, Derbyshire. It was only the 10th ever sighting of the species in the UK, so the question would be would it stick around. The big listers were already on the way so it was a mighty relief when it was re-found the following morning. 

Accepted records for Crag Martin spread across six months - Britain’s first, at Stithians Reservoir in Cornwall was found on June 22nd 1988 with the second following less than three weeks later, in East Sussex, heading over Beachy Head.Two autumn birds came next, in early September 1989 at Llanfairfechan (Gwynedd) and six years later, on October 8th 1995, again at Beachy Head. The first-ever twitchable bird came along to another inland East Midlands county, thanks to the amazing bird at Swithland Reservoir on April 17th 1999, a bird which famously moved north to Pugneys CP (West Yorkshire) the following day. The second bird of 1999 (unless it was actually the same one…) departed our shores out of Orkney on May 3rd and a seven year+ gap followed until the latest record (until now) was noted at Badshot Lea (Surrey) on October 22nd 2006. Another south coast record came along in 2008, one seen in West Sussex, at Truleigh Hill on September 21st and April’s third record (and just the second “available” one) came along last spring for a three-day stay around Flamborough Head. (What may turn out to be April’s 4th was noted briefly on the Isle of Wight this spring of course). Read Roy Frost's finder in the field article. (RBA)

With out being able to get away from work until the weekend, Saturday's poor forecast and the bird not being reported until late ended the idea to go then so I decided to head up on Sunday morning. I do wish I'd perhaps not been mixing the wine on previous evening as I woke with a cracking headache so the car radio volume had to stay on low. I opted to head to the home of Chesterfield FC first as the bird had been reported there last the previous evening.

I found around sixty birders had already had dawn views of the Crag Martin when I arrived at 9.30am however I didn't have to wait more than five minutes before I saw the bird flying above the stadium around the floodlight. The bird could also been inside flying under the eaves of the stands. Twice the bird flew out of the stadium vicinity and could be seen above the local housing. Given I was in Chesterfield I thought I'd head to the crooked spire anyway as its a land mark I've always wanted to see close up. Once parked up (£1.10 per hour) I was crossing the road when the Crag Martin past over head towards the spire. As I reached the church ground the bird was whizzing around the steeple delighting an audience of around 150 birders. 

With digiscoping out of the question I did try my hand with my SLR and managed to get a couple of distant record shots.