I don't visit the uplands on the Cheshire / Derbyshire border often enough, and certainly not in the evening. This visit was by virtue of an opportune moment as I'd agreed to ferry Karen and pals to and from an event near Macclesfield. In between taxi duties there were a few hours spare and the weather was glorious.
I'd mainly hoped to see Short-eared Owls; it's been reported as a good vole year and subsequently larger than usual numbers of breeding SEOs are in the uplands.
However I first stopped at Cut-thorne Hill, a patch of keepered moorland next to the road. As I got out of the car there was immediately a displaying Golden Plover in the air. I love their slow flight and evocative call up as they display. Over the next 30 minutes or so several birds displayed, sometimes together, and others piped away from deep in the heather. I've seen Golden Plover in this spot many times, but I have never seen a signing Common Snipe in Cheshire and so a bird sat 'chipping' on a roadside post was a treat, especially as it allowed me to photograph it without concern. I suspect it had chicks nearby. Several Curlews and multiple Red Grouse watched me from a distance, all no doubt keeping guard over chicks. On the adjacent pasture, several Lapwings and fully grown chicks wandered amongst the sheep. Cut-thorne is always good for waders, far better than other nearby sites. I expect that is entirely attributable to predator control by the gamekeepers. I have to say we need sites like this as wader numbers continue to plummet. Of course raptor persecution is not acceptable, but we birders also need to balance our views with the positives that well keepered estates provide.
Next up was just a few hundred yards to the Danebower quarries, where the deep valley with it's local landmark chimney stack has always been the most regular spot in Cheshire for Ring Ouzels. I have to say more often than not I fail here, but on a roll this evening I immediately found a pair just below the chimney and watched them feeding for some time. The female was seen with a bill full of food, so no doubt there are nestlings nearby, and a third bird was signing from further up the valley. A pair of Mistle Thrushes were foraging here, along with several Wheatears (including scaly juveniles).
Next to the highest ground and right on the border - Derbyshire Bridge. I paused and scanned and pretty much immediately picked up a Short-eared Owl further down the valley and well in to Derbyshire It was close to a track so I repositioned and was soon enjoying fantastic views; at one point it came over to check me out and circled several times. I can only assume there was a nest nearby so I quickly retreated.
The light was just starting to fade, so I decided to watch the sunset and scan the moors close to the Cat'n'Fiddle pub. Two Red Deer were a surprise, but mostly the moors grew quiet as the sun dropped. Karen called a little earlier than I'd anticipated, so I set off back down towards Macclesfield. Another Short-eared owl was circling the roadside grassland close to Hindsclough Farm - this one well inside Cheshire.
It had been a really excellent evening. I should do this more.
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