A very early start to arrive at the Gorge for 6:30am, the first noted was a calling Cuckoo from the nearby moor, I wasn’t heading that way, I was going down into the gorge itself, this was my first time here.
I was guessing where I was going, I chose the right hand path and headed down, I was looking for the Padley specials, namely the Pied Flycatcher and Redstart. I had parked up at the Ice Cream car park.
First encountered birds were Blackbird, Song Thrush, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Robin, Blackcap, and Wren, on my way down into the gorge, no Flycatcher’s or Redstart on this leg, so I headed back up.
The return journey held little reward, with Blue Tit, Crow, Treecreeper, Chaffinch and a heard only Pied Flycatcher. I found out later at Wyming Brook that the Pied Flycatchers nest boxes are near the top of the gorge and a little way in, about a dozen of them, try again next year.
I moved on from Padley Gorge to my next destination Wyming Brook, target here was Wood Warbler, I was having a bad morning, I drew a blank on this species too 😔. The species I did encounter were, Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Green veined White Butterfly, Orange tip Butterfly, and a Silver Y Moth.
I was drawing a blank and needed a pick up, I thought Dragonflies and Old Moor 😊, I headed off, it turned out to be a good move. On arrival at Old Moor the weather had changed to warm and sunny.
I got my gear together and headed o to the reserve, stopping at the small pond near the visitor centre first, here I picked up on lots of, Azure Damselflies and a couple of Large Red Damselflies, moving further into the reserve, I decide on taking the the left path and to do a loop on these pools. I encountered the same damselflies here, plenty of Azure and a few Large Red, there was also about half a dozen Four Spotted Chasers and a single Hairy Dragonfly, a nice surprise was a Dingy Skipper Butterfly, I found nothing new moving around the rest of the pools. I moved onto the Toyota platform and here I found a lot more Azure Damselflies and also Red-eyed Damselflies.
My next move was to do the Green Lane loop and here I found a few Blue-tailed Damselflies along with a few Common Blue Butterflies. I decided now on having an Ice Cream, I headed back out to the visitor centre, on my way I saw Orange tip, Brimstone Butterflies also a Mint Moth.
Lastly, after the ice cream, I decided on one last look around the pools on the left side, a good move, I finished the day on my favourite Dragonfly, the Broad Bodied Chaser. 😊
Padley Gorge List : Blackcap, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chiffchaff, Coal Tit, Cuckoo, Nuthatch, Robin, Song Thrush, Treecreeper, Willow Warbler, Wren
Wyming Brook List : Blackcap, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Robin, Song Thrush, Willow Warbler, Woodpigeon, Wren, Green veined White Butterfly, Orange tip Butterfly, Silver Y Moth
Old Moor Lists :
Butterflies : Brimstone, Common Blue, Dingy Skipper, Green veined White, Orange tip
Dragonflies: Azure Damselfly, Blue tailed Damselfly, Broad Bodied Chaser, Four spotted Chaser, Hairy Dragonfly, Large Red Damselfly, Red eyed Damselfly
Sliver Y Moth
Blue tailed Damselfly
Broad Bodied Chaser
Common Blue Butterfly
Huddsbirder 