The RED-THROATED PIPIT in Derbyshire

Yesterday, whilst down in Somerset, our relaxing meander around the wonderful Avalon Marshes was rudely interrupted by some snippets of pesky bird news. Firstly, the gentleman who stood next to us whilst we were watching the HUDSONIAN GODWIT announced there was a WHISKERED TERN at Draycote Water, a long overdue 'Warwickshire tick' for me. Later in the morning, surprising news emerged from the border of Derbyshire and Greater Manchester that a summer-plumaged RED-THROATED PIPIT had been located by a birder surveying Northern Wheatears on Ludworth Moor. 

RED-THROATED PIPIT (summer male)
Ludworth Moor, Derbyshire.
Photo by Dave Hutton.

We were having a great time in the west country though, so there was no way we would be making a move back north until sundown. There was simply far much to enjoy around Ham Wall RSPB and Shapwick Heath NNR with booming Bittern, bubbling Whimbrel and hawking Hobby just a few of the highlights. It was also great to enjoy a laugh or two with a few familiar faces from the East Midlands, West Midlands, Devon and Lancashire while were down there too.

Obviously with birding, there are many ups but inevitably there will be the occasional down. Unfortunately I missed out on a Kentish Plover in the high tide wader roost at Stert Point at dusk. This was probably due to a couple of twonks disobeying instructions and disturbing the shorebirds earlier on in the day. Due to my insatiable appetite for dirty 'aviphoric' fixes I needed a positive to cancel out this minor negative. It seemed as though the aforementioned RED-THROATED PIPIT had gone to roost. Surely it was worth a punt on paying it an early morning visit? 

Ludworth Moor, Derbyshire/Greater Manchester
Photo by Adam Archer

At 6.30am, Dave Hutton and his lovely birding companion Donna picked me up and we were off. I had a feeling we were in for a pretty good day as a female Peregrine followed us down our street. Following a leisurely drive through the rolling Derbyshire landscape and such picturesque towns as Ashbourne and Matlock we arrived and Ludworth Moor in under a couple of hours. Just a few minutes previously we had received the news we had all been waiting for, the bird was still present. To be honest I had visions of it awaking from its roost amongst the sedge and continuing with its northerly migration as soon as the sun was up.

RED-THROATED PIPIT (summer male)
Ludworth Moor, Derbyshire.
Photo by Dave Hutton.

Within minutes of strolling up to the birds favoured sheep field I heard the distinctive drawn out 'peeeez' call but where on earth was the bird? I looked around skyward but failed to see any pipit in flight, only for another birder to shout out that it was perched on the drystone wall just a few yards away. The bird then flew a short distance and began feeding amongst a couple of Northern Wheatear. There it was, a stunningly beautiful summer-plumaged RED-THROATED PIPIT. The bird then performed like a star in front of no more than twenty other mesmerised birdwatchers.

RED-THROATED PIPIT (summer male)
Ludworth Moor, Derbyshire.
Photo by Dave Hutton.

As a few other cars pulled onto Gun Road the bird flew once more and disappeared out of sight. It was then over a hour before it was relocated again much to the relief of those latecomers who had waited on positive news before making the trip. As before, the bird showed very well indeed as it picked around for morsels of food amongst a small flock of Meadow Pipit. At one stage it even sat stationary for about ten minutes and appeared to utter a quiet sub-song, confirming my suspicions that it was indeed a male bird.

Although not a new British species for me it did almost feel like one. I had only seen one other RED-THROATED PIPIT well before, a first-winter individual on Mainland Shetland during October 2008. I had also heard other birds in flight on the Isles of Scilly and Shetland over the years. This really goes to show that it is far from being an easy species to see in Britain these days despite it breeding as close to us as northern Scandinavia.

RED-THROATED PIPIT (summer male)
Ludworth Moor, Derbyshire.
Photo by Dave Hutton.

Thanks to Dave and Donna for putting up with me for the day and for the lift up north. A big sloppy kiss to Dave too for letting me use his excellent photographs of such a stunning rarity.