Some wildflowers seen in the Churnet Valley today.

Common Spotted Orchid at RSPB Coombes Valley (by Wendy Birks).

Greater Butterfly Orchid at RSPB Coombes Valley (by Wendy Birks)

Orchids in grassland at Coombes Valley (by Wendy Birks)

Marsh Ragwort in fields near Ashenhurst (by Wendy Birks)

Photos of Red Kites over the Weaver Hills.

Terry Eyre, who sent in these photos (taken 7 - 8th June 2014), described them as "poor". Personally I would be pleased to get any photo of them at all, and so close too!

Checklist of birds (and other wildlife) reported to Churnet Valley Wildlife between January and May 2014.

Birds, mammals and other wildlife records sent in to Churnet Valley Wildlife 2014. KEY 1 = present; EW Fm. = East Wall Farm, Oakamoor; DHCP = Deep Hayes Country Park; NR= Nature Reserve; Chedd. = Cheddleton; W Hills = Weaver Hills; HHP = Hales Hall Pool; H. Junct = Hazlehurst Junction (Caldon Canal); DD = Dimmingsdale ; Titt. = Tittesworth Res. First record/sighting = first report in CV in 2014
2014	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
Barn owl
Black-headed gull	1	1	1	1
Blackbird	1	1	1	1	1
Blackcap				First sighting 12/04/14 Titt.	1
Blue tit	1	1	1	1	1
Brambling	1		Flock in Brough Park NR	Alton and Kingsley
Bullfinch	1	1	1	1 male Titt. Res.	1
Buzzard	1	1	1	1	1
Canada Goose	1	1	1	1	1
Carrion Crow	1	1	1	1	1
Chaffinch	1	1	1	1	1
Chiff Chaff			Dimmingsdale	First report DD 05/04/14	1
Coal Tit	1	1	1	1	1
Collared Dove	1	1	Leek	1	1
Common Gull	1	Tittesworth	Tittesworth Res.
Common Sandpiper					Titt Res.
Coot	1	1	1	1	1
Cormorant	1		on Caldon Canal, Denford	Titt.. Res.	1
Crossbill				flcok of c30 26/04/14
Cuckoo				first report 22/04/14	Roaches Estate 03/05/14 + Swineholes Wood NR +along Caldon Canal between Endon and Denford
Curlew		6 at Tittesworth	Pair seen between Endon and Denford	nr. H. Junct 2 pairs + Kingsley	nr. H.Junct 1 pair + Titt. Res. + Coombes Valley
Dipper			Oakamoor area (and EW Fm.)
Dunlin
Dunnock	1	1	1	1	1
Fieldfare	1	1	Weaver hills + Kingsley
Gadwall					Poss. Titt Res.
Garden Warbler					first seen 05/05/14 but probably here earlier
Garganey
Goldcrest	1	1	1	1	1
Goldeneye
Goldfinch	1	1	1	1	1
Goosander	1	1	1	canal Chedd.	female with young Titt. 17/05/14
Goshawk
Grasshopper Warbler				First sighting 24/04/14 H. Junct.
Great black backed Gull				c4 flew over Oakamoor
Great Crested Grebe	1			pair displaying HHP + pairs Titt. Res.	Titt. Res. + Rudyard Lake
Great Spotted Woodpecker	1	1	1	1	1
Great Tit	1	1	1	1	1
Green Woodpecker	1		1	nr. Denford + Kingsley + Titt. Res.	1
Greenfinch	1	1	1	1	1
Grey Heron	1	1	1	1	juvs. Titt.
Grey Partridge	kingsley
Grey Wagtail	1		Oakamoor area and Caldon Canal near Endon	nr. H. Junct.	fledgelings Titt. 03/05/14
Greylag Goose		6 at Tittesworth		Titt. Res.	Titt. Res.
Herring Gull	1		1
Hobby
House Martin				firstreport near H. Junct. 14/04/14	1
House Sparrow	1	1	1	1	1
Jackdaw	1	Numerous reported inc. flock of 50 over Morrison's CP, Cheadle	numerous(up to140) reported gathered in the Cheadle area	1	1
Jay	1	1	1	1	1
Kestrel	1		nr Endon	1	1
Kingfisher			EW Fm. And Brough Park fields NR	Endon
Lapwing	1	Tittesworth,	1	near Denford	Titt. Res.
Lesser black backed Gull	1	1	1	1	flying over R. Lake
Lesser Redpoll	kingsley	Tittesworth	Dimmingsdale and Kingsley	c20 Titt. Res.
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Lesser Whitethroat
Linnet		Tittesworth
Little Grebe	1	1
Little Owl	kingsley	Coombes Valley NR and Crowgutter Wood NR
Long-eared Owl
Long-tailed Tit	1	1	1	1	1
Magpie	1	1	1	1	1
Mallard	1	1	1	ducklings on C. canal Denford	1
Mandarin Duck			Oakamoor area	1 male Titt. Res.	Titt. Res.
Marsh Tit	kingsley	Tittesworth	Tittesworth Res. And Kingsley
Meadow Pipit			W. Hills and O/moor
Merlin	East Wall Fm.	1
Mistle thrush	1	1	1	Denford	Titt. Res. + 3 (poss family) at Hazlehurst Junct.
Moorhen	1	1	1	1	1
Mute swan		1 Brough park	2 Brough Park		Titt. Res.
Nuthatch	1	1	1	1	1
Oyster Catcher			Pair near Cheddleton	two Titt. Res	3 young Titt. 17/05/14 + two (poss pair) at R. Lake
Peregrine	Endon/Denford				between Cheadle and Oakamoor
Pheasant	1	1	1	1	1
Pied Flycatcher				RSPB Coombes Valley + Harston Wood	Swineholes Wood + Coombes Valley
Pied Wagtail	1			1	1
Pochard	Tittesworth	1	Tittesworth Res.
Raven	1	1	1	1	1
Red Grouse
Red Kite		Oakamoor/Alton		x2 flew over Froghall
Red-legged Partridge			Froghall
Redshank
Redstart					R. Lake
Redwing	1	1	Weaver hills
Reed Bunting	1	1	Denfiord and EW Fm.	Titt. Res.	Ttt. Res. + R. Lake
Reed Warbler
Ringed Plover					Titt. Res.
Ring Ouzel
Robin	1	1	1	1	1
Rock dove/feral pigeon	1			1
Rook	1		1	1	1
Sand Martin				First sighting 03/04/14 HHP
Sedge Warbler				First sighting 24/04/114 H. Junct.	1
Short-eared Owl
Shoveler
Siskin		4 Brough park and Tittesworth Res.	Oakamoor area	1
Skylark		Weaver Hills	Weaver hills
Snipe	1	1	1	Titt.. Res.	Titt. Res.
Song Thrush	1	1	1	1	1
Sparrowhawk	1	1 Brough park	1 near Denford	Consall + Kingsley + BP
Spotted Flycatcher					Titt. Res.
Starling	1	1	1000+ W. Hills	1	1
Stock Dove				Endon	Endon
Stonechat
Swallow				First sighting 02/04/14 4 EW Fm. Next sighting 03/04/14 HHP and 07/04/14 at Kingsley	1
Swift					first sighting Endon 04/05/14
Tawny Owl	kingsley		nr Cheddleton	nr H. Junct. + Harston Wood	Consall NP + near Titt. Res. + Cheadle town = swineholes Wood NR
Teal	1	1	DHCP and near Chedd. And near Ednon 26/03/14	C 2 pairs Titt. Res.
Tree Creeper	1	1	1	1	1
Tree Pipit
Tree Sparrow	kingsley only	Kingsley only	Kingsley only	Endon
Tufted Duck	1	1	Deep Hayes CP, Titt. Res. , Brough Park.	1	1 on caldon canal between endon and denford also Titt. Res.
Water Rail
Waxwing
Wheatear				Near H. Jnct. (disused railway line)
Whitethroat				first report 114/04/14 near H.Junct.	1
Wigeon	1
Willow Tit		1			R. Lake
Willow Warbler				First report 05/04/14 DD	1
Woodpigeon	1	1	1	1	1
Wood Warbler				nr. Oakamoor	nr. Oakamoor
Woodcock	East Wall Fm.				Consall NP
Wren	1	1	1	1	1
Yellow Wagtail
Yellowhammer
Little Egret	Brough Park Field NR	1 Brough Park
Greater Scaup	tittesworth
Lesser Scaup	tittesworth
					Titt. Res. (prob. Breeding|)
Hedgehog			Kingsley	Kingsley
Mole	1	1	1	1	1
Water Shrew
Lesser Horseshoe Bat
Natterer's Bat
Daubenton's Bat
Leisler's Bat
Common Pipistrelle
Rabbit	1	1	1	1	1
Brown Hare	1	1	Denfiord + Kingsley	Titt. Res.+ near Denford + Kingsley	1 Titt. Res. + Swineholes Wood NR
Mountain Hare
Red Squirrel
Grey Squirrel	1	1	1	1	1
Bank Vole	1
Short-tailed Vole	1
Water Vole
Wood Mouse	1		1
Yellow-necked Mouse
Harvest Mouse
House Mouse
Brown Rat	1			1
Dormouse
Fox	1			1	between Cheadle and Oakamoor
Pine Marten
Stoat			EW Fm.
Weasel
Polecat
American Mink			denford	near Denford
Badger		sett rocester	latrine	Kingsley + Footprints – Oakamoor
Otter
Red Deer					footprints Coombes Valley+ animal seen near Ipstones
Fallow Deer	kingsley	1
Roe Deer
Muntjac
Red Necked Wallaby
Brimstone Butterfly			Consall
Peacock butterfly			EW Fm.
Comma Butterfly			EW Fm.
Frogspawn			EW Fm.
Green Veined White Butterfly				DHCP
Small Heath Butterfly						Weaver Hills