The first half of March didnt bring any migrants through into Cumbria, it was more a case of wintering birds lingering.

At Grune the 2 little Stints and the 2 Long Tailed Ducks as well as the snow bunting were all still present to mid month at least, while on the marsh east of Grune Peregrine and large numbers of Geese including a Leucistic Barnacle Goose were still present. A R edThroated Diver was also very close in.



In Carlisle the 1st winter Iceland Gull remained in the St annes area though it could go missing at times, and on the 15/3/09 I found a 1st winter Iceland Gull at Old Sandsfield on the Eden. This looked very similar to the Carlisle bird and was almost certainly the same bird on a wander around, the 2 sites are about 4 miles apart, still it was nice to find.


In Wetheral a group of 20 Waxwings appeared on the 6/3/09 and several were stil present on the 11/03/09.

Whooper Swans were still in evidence as well with a big count of 320 from Angerton. I managed to read 2 rings here as well and both birds were confirmed as having been ringed at Caerlaverock. The Rockliffe/Beaumont herd was still present as well numbering a max of 82, while up to 4 Kingfishers were seen together at Carr Beds and 2 Jack Snipe were reported from there.
Hopefully in 2 weeks time I will be able to report lots of migrants flooding in.

The second half of February

A walk around Grune point got the period off to a good start with the Snow Bunting still present, as were the 2 wintering Little Stints, the 2 Long Tailed Ducks, a distant Short Eared Owl, a Raven and a Greenshank. The Snow Bunting seems to have moved on though as it has not been seen this fortnight.

The next day saw a nice suprise just before work with 5 Waxwings in a tree at my road end in Carlisle, they were then reported from Annetwell St in Carlisle city centre and 2 others were seen in Lowry Hill, Carlisle.

A Little Egret was again seen on Easton Marsh on the 26/2 and on the 22/2 Darren Robson found a Ross's goose/Pinkfeet hybrid amongst large numbers of Geese at Easton, this bird had been present in Norfolk and Lancashire earlier this year.

Away from the coast 2 drake Smew were reported from Tindale Tarn in the north-east of the County although when I visited on the 23/2 only 1 was present. Very few other ducks were present on the 23/2 only a drake Pochard and a single goosander

Carr Beds continued to get the odd good bird with green Sandpiper regularly present and a Jack Snipe flushed on the 23/2. Up to 60 Whooper Swans were still around and the injured bird present for 4 years is still hanging on, up to 40 goldeneye have also been on the river Eden.

A Glaucous Gull was seen at Sandsfield in the gull roost at high tide on the 25/02 and then an Iceland Gull (initially reported as a Glaucous Gull) was found nearby in St Annes, Carlisle on the 27/2 where it remained for a few days at least. Unusually this was the 3rd Iceland Gull for North Cumbria in the last month