Late November

Late November

The bird or birds of the latter half of November were without a doubt Waxwings. Good numbers appeared in the North of Cumbria with a count of 210 at Dalston the biggest flock. Flocks were also present at Penrith (100), Keswick (15), Carlisle(75 on West Walls, 90 on Fusehill Street), Warwick Bridge (50) and Wetheral (25). Unusually these flocks often seemed hard to catch up with and only the Dalston school site was anything like reliable though even there the birds could go missing at times.



Other than Waxwings the Ring Tailed Hen Harrier was still roosting at Campfield Marsh and a Short Eared Owl was also present on the 16/11/08, as were 19 black Tailed Godwits. Also at Campfield RSPB a cold looking Little Egret was reported on the 22/11/08.
Whooper Swan numbers continued to build reaching a max of 107 at Beaumont/Rockliffe. The Port Carlisle Twite flock was still present with c50 birds reported on the 22/11/08 and 31 on the 28/11/08.
A female Snow Bunting was also seen on Grune point on the 25/11/08 in almost exactly the same place as one was seen last winter. This years one was too flighty for photos so I've posted a picture of last years.