Padley Gorge and Burbage Edge

A lovely start to our bird watching walk up Padley Gorge, we first had a cup of tea at Grindleford station cafe. We then set off over the railway bridge and turned right through the stone entrance to the gorge. The weather was bright, warm with a light breeze, ideal for a wander through the woods. 

There were some bird calls about, mainly blackcaps and wren. We proceed up the path keeping the Burbage brook in view where possible, on our left. Along the way we saw wren, great tit, blue tit, blackbird and a nuthatch. We could hear the occasional call of pied flycatchers, difficult to spot in the abundance of leaf. 

Blackbird

We proceeded onward and upward along the cobbled pathway. Eventually we crossed a bridge over the Burbage brook and climbed up onto the ridge above the gorge. We walked further along the ridge path and spotted a grey wagtail hopping about the boulders in the brook below us. A little further along we spotted our first pied flycatcher after hearing several calls earlier. 

The woods were much quieter than expected, perhaps half the population were on nests. We did hear a distant cuckoo. 

Pied flycatcher

We carried on along the ridge spotting coal tit, chaffinch, robin, wood pigeon and crow. We eventually doubled back along the ridge path, spotting more pied flycatchers, a willow warbler and a chiffchaff. 

An extra effort was made to climb up onto the birch wooded area on the edge of the moor. Unfortunately it was very quiet up there, nothing to report.

We eventually made our way back down the path to the car park and off for some refreshment at the National Trust Longshaw estate. The bird feeders outside the visitor centre were conspicuous by the absence of birds. The distinct call of a curlew was heard in the distance but it wasn't seen.

After lunch we set off for the nearby Burbage Edge, a gritstone  outcrop. We walked a while along the path below the edge. We spotted meadow pipits, swallows, magpie, jackdaw and a pair of whinchats.

Female whinchat

Try as we did, we never spotted a ring ouzel not even in flight. We were not alone, a few groups we met along the way had not had a sighting either. 

We eventually made our way to the right and up onto the top of Burbage Edge. The panoramic view from up there was stunning. We proceeded along the ridge back towards the Longshaw Estate, keeping a look out for a ring ouzel. We saw lots more meadow pipits and heard another distant cuckoo and curlew, but no ring ouzel.

Meadow pipit

We returned to the Longshaw Estate and made our way home. 

The tally: 20 species

Wren, great tit, blue tit, blackbird, nuthatch, pied flycatcher, grey wagtail, crow, willow warbler, chaffinch, coal tit, robin, wood pigeon, chiffchaff, magpie, mallard, jackdaw, goldcrest, meadow pipit and whinchat.