Monsal Head To Miller's Dale, Saturday 25th October 2025

 A free day together and a lovely if windy forecast, saw Tracey and myself travelling again to the lovely Peak District to carry out another favourite walk.

After a fairly decent drive over through urban Sheffield and the lovely White Peak countryside, we arrived at our destination, Monsal Head.

After getting some warm gear on we headed off and down onto the old railway viaduct, before heading towards Cressbrook and the River Wye.

The obligatory stop to take some landscape pics is always part of any visit here and we then headed down to Cressbrook Mill.

As we arrived at Cressbrook Mill, the lovely sight of a singing male Dipper greeted us, always a great sighting in my book and a nice start to the days bird sightings.

It was a tad muddy in places due to the overnight rain as we walked along Water-cum-jolly Dale, but the path soon became drier as we reached Litton Mill.

More nice bird sightings here included a pair of Goosander watched fishing along the river and a pair of Dippers gave brilliant views, particularly the male, who was frantically displaying to his mate and she wasn't taking a blind bit of notice which was amusing.

We then walked up onto the old railway for the last leg up to Miller's Dale station.

A welcome stop at the station for a nice cuppa and a toastie certainly did the trick before we began the return leg of the walk.

As we approached Litton tunnel, we decided to walk over the top, instead of through it today. This was a very good choice, as the views of the surrounding countryside and autumnal colours were superb.

As we made it back down to the old railway again, we walked through Cressbrook tunnel, past Upper Dale and Cressbrook Mill and up to the car at Monsal Head.

What a brilliant walk today in perfect weather for walking, the following are my favourite photos from our day in this cracking part of the world.

Monsal Dale, Monsal Viaduct & Upperdale.

Cressbrook Mill

Water-cum-jolly Dale

Litton Mill

Miller's Dale

Litton Mill

Cressbrook Dale

Cressbrook Tunnel

Cressbrook Mill

Upperdale

Monsal Dale, Monsal Head & Upperdale

Local Patching Roundup - September 2025

A decent month, with some nice birding moments and the very sad sight of a dead Common Dolphin at Goxhill Haven. 

Saturday 13th 

A good count of 82 species during today's visit to East Halton, with some nice highlights.

Winter's Pond held some nice birds which included a lovely Great-white Egret, an eclipse Drake Pintail, 36 Sand Martin, 2 juvenile Little-ringed Plover, a Kingfisher and a Grey Wagtail and Greenshank flew south overhead.

A calling Green Woodpecker was in Redhouse Wood, with a Jay nearby also and a single Siskin flew south west.

A good count of 17 Chiffchaff were also recorded today, with birds including 1 along Marsh Lane, 9 at Winter's Pond, 4 along Jericho Lane in East Halton village and 3 along East Halton Marshes.

Sunday 14th

A visit to Goxhill today, covering the areas between the Haven and Dawson City, then up to the Tilery and then back along Neatgangs Lane and along Ferry Road to the car.

A few nice waders included a Whimbrel which flew west at the Haven, a Greenshank feeding on the ponds near the old boatyard and 7 Bar-tailed Godwit.

A juvenile Yellow-legged Gull flew south at the haven, my first for a few weeks and a juvenile Kingfisher provided a welcome splash of colour to the mornings sightings.

Some nice bits seen around Dawson City included a Grey Wagtail which flew south, 3 Siskin which also flew south, a Willow Warbler and 2 Marsh Harriers.

A few other niceties included a late juvenile Sedge Warbler along Neatgangs lane, 34 Barn Swallows around the Haven and the first 2 Goldcrest of the autumn. Overhead, a Lesser Redpoll flew west at Goxhill Tilery Ponds, a NFY species, not a common one on my local patch.

Sunday 21st

A visit to Goxhill Haven today on the high tide, in the hope of seeing some seabirds in the north westerly airflow, really didn't produce, with only a flock of 10 Common Scoter and a single juvenile Gannet entering the notes. A juvenile/1st Winter Caspian Gull flew west here and my first local Pink-footed Geese were seen, with 73 birds being counted.

The bird sightings were overshadowed today though, with the very sad sighting of me finding a dead adult female Common Dolphin. The animal was found washed up on the tide edge, just west of the Haven. This is my first sighting of the species on the Humber and is quite a rare visitor to this side of the country, with the species usually being found in the deep waters off the Atlantic coastline.

The animal was reported to the Natural History Museum and was picked up for autopsy purposes.

Saturday 27th

A decent count of 74 species today, covering the East Halton part of the local patch, saw some cracking birds being seen.

First thing, a decent count of 618 Pink-footed Geese came out of their roost in Yorkshire, a great sight to see and also hear.

Around Winter's, the best of the sightings went to a new patch species for me, as a Tree Pipit flew south overhead. This is my 6th species of Pipit for the local patch, with Meadow, Water, Rock, Richard's and amazingly Olive-backed being the other species. Other nice records around the site included 21 Wigeon, 33 Tufties, 163 Teal, 11 Moorhen, a Great-white Egret, 13 Little Grebe, a Grey Wagtail and a late Reed Warbler.

Along Marsh Lane, a lovely pair of Stonechat were watched flycatching with 2 more males being seen later on the marshes, a calling Green Woodpecker was along the old railway, no doubt the bird which has been around for a few weeks now.

The final goodies of the day, saw a nice surprise, as a Little Stint was briefly seen at the Skitter and then flew north and shortly afterwards, a lovely, early Snow Bunting was found.

The Snow Bunting showed impeccably, allowing some nice close views and was tentatively identified as a 1st Winter male. This is my earliest record here for many years.

So not a bad series of visits, with the local patch list now on 156 species. 

Sunrise At Goxhill Haven, 14th.

Roe Deer, Goxhill Haven, 14th.

The Very Sad Sighting Of This Stunning Adult Female Common Dolphin

A Lovely, Unusual Cloud Formation Over The Humber At East Halton, 27th

Great-white Egret, Winter's Pond, 27th

Snow Bunting, East Halton Skitter, 27th

Hartington - Beresford Dale - Wolfscote Dale - Biggin Dale - Hartington Circular, Sunday 5th October 2025

 With a good forecast on the cards, today saw myself and Tracey heading for the lovely white peak area of the Staffordshire section of the peak District National Park. Our destination was the lovely little village of Hartington to carry out a favourite walk covering the areas of Beresford, Wolfscote and Biggin Dales.

This area is such a special one with its superb limestone scenery, caves and the River Dove.

A few birds were seen today and included a lovely Red Kite and a couple of 'cronking' Ravens which put on a great show of aerobatics as they often do. Personally, they are one of my favourite species, and are just great to see and hear.

The following are my favourite photos from our day in this special part of the world.

The First Part Of The Walk, Heading Out Over The Fields Towards Beresford Dale.

Pike Pool, Beresford Dale

Some Lovely Scenery In Beresford Dale

Wolfscote Dale

Biggin Dale

Hartington