Derbyshire - In no Thrush to see this bird!

The last thing I had on my mind last night was a lengthy drive North.. Or was it because at 0300hrs I was awake, bright eyed and bushy tailed without any prospect of just rolling over and going back to sleep! A rapid decision was made to venture to Derbyshire to see the Dusky Thrush which seems to have been around forever.

By 0345hrs I was on the road having filled the car and my stomach. It was a bit foggy out but this did not sidetrack me from my quickly hatched plan. As the journey progressed needless to say the fog got worse and as I started the M1 leg of my journey had me considering the safety aspect as vehicles piled past me at a rate of knots! No wonder there are big pile ups on motorways!

I had left Kiss FM way behind after the M25 and selected some groovy tunes to accompany me on the rest of my journey. Mysteries of The World by M.F.S.B which is another indication of my music preference as I hear readers exclaiming Who??!! (Add a comment if you can tell me what M.F.S.B stands for)

I arrived at about 0730hrs and parked in the Carlton Lees car park. I joined a couple of birders and walked to the site. Good job really probably would have taken the long route to Dukes Barn Activity Centre. An arrow on a piece of card with “Bird” written on it indicated I had made it to the right place.

There were around twenty birders lined up between the building and orchard fence line. The Dusky Thrush was sat in a tree partially obscured by branches. That was easy enough and the bird obliged by dropping onto the floor to consume some fallen fruit. The light was not great but I used the gate as a tripod for my camera and I happily click away as the bird moved around feeding. 

The Thrush was a feisty character chasing off the larger blackbirds if they dared go near the fallen fruit which was clearly its quarry now! It showed for a good twenty minutes before it flew off over the trees and out of site. Fantastic!

I did a brief bit of birding in a field containing the local sheep on the way back to the car had a quick pre prepared snack and headed for the lights of London. Incidentally my music choice was a bit outside my box and livelier on the way home Bat out of Hell Meatloaf. What a brilliant album and great music to sing along (?!) and stay awake too! Woo Hoo!