Six people headed off on the Rosedale walk to look for Ring ouzel and Redstart. From the car park Red grouse were calling and throughout the day were plentiful and amazingly tame. A lot of displaying and chasing and calling by numerous males were witnessed. Surprisingly there were no Wheatear present around the kilns but it was not long before we found two males in pristine condition on a meadow. At the same time a Redstart was singing from the hanging woodlands but refused to show itself. While attracted to the Redstart a pair of Ring ouzels were spotted at the far end of the meadow, Rob picking up their distant song. Before we could get really close they were disturbed by some other walkers and cyclists but did not go far and we then closed up and had better views. An odd call was bothering us which we eventually confirmed as the call of a Ring ouzel when later in the day we watched on calling from a clump of heather. As we walked a further pair of Ring ouzel was then detected further north with much better views. Golden plover were calling and a singleton and a pair were seen as we progressed along the track and a further pair of Ring ouzels flew out of some rushes to the east of the track. Greylag geese came flying over from the south, not quite a moorland bird! Just as we approached our lunch stop near the mine shaft it started to rain and waterproofs were donned. During lunch a Sparrowhawk put in a brief appearance on the southern crest of the hill. The walk was a bit swifter in the wind and rain but stopped before we got back to the cars giving us ample time for further good views of Ring ouzel, one of which had a yellow ring on its left leg. Redstarts were again singing but as before there was no sign of them. A great day out.
