Early August - The start of Autumn

Waders formed the focus of attention for this fortnight with the juvenile Little Ringed Plover being seen again on the 2/8/09 at Carr Beds and up to 6 Green Sandpipers, 10 Snipe, 6 Common Sandpipers and 2 Goldeneye being seen most days. A Black tailed Godwit was seen on the evening of the 5/8, a fox was also watched for a while on the evening of the 8/8 and a single Otter showed very well at dusk on two occasions. Demesne Marsh produced a nice group of 4 Greenshank on the 14/8/09 with 3 Greenshank, 3 Whimbrel and a Little Egret at Port Carlisle the day before. The best Greenshank count was 7 at anthorn on the 14/8 with a single Black Tailed godwit also present.

The Great Grey shrike remained at Alston Moor until at least the 3/8 but then seemed to go missing. The debate as to its identity seem to have settled on Great Grey Shrike but with the possibility it could be of the race Leucopes. This picture shows the large white double wing patches and the beak was also seen to be a pale horn colour.

News from Thakka Flash near Penrith was a Little Egret briefly on the 12/8 with 2 Green Sandpiper on the 13/8 and one the following evening.

A walk around Grune Point on the 2/8 revealed little other than a couple of flyover Sandwich Terns and at least 4 very young Wheatears on the shingle suggesting local breeding at Grune itself.

Ospreys began to return through Cumbria with one heading south over Wetheral on the 8/8 while a female Marsh Harrier, still a rare bird in Cumbria, was reported hunting in Geltsdale the day before. Another osprey was at Whitrigg on the 12/8/09. Osprey news from Bassenthwaite Lake was that 3 young had fledged but one had gone missing almost immediately.

Late July

The juvenile Little Ringed plover was still at Carr Beds on the 16/7/09 but heavy rain the following day covered all the mud and shingle so it was not seen subsequently.

Also at Carr Beds a single Greenshank was present on the 18/7 and up to 5 Green Sandpipers were reported with 1-3 being seen most days and Snipe started to return with up to 6 present.

At Port Carlisle on the 19/7 Little Egret, Greenshank and Little Gull were all in the harbour area.

4 Storm Petrels were reported at Workington on the 23/7 and 5 on the 30/7 but numbers seem much lower this summer than usual. Also at Workington there was a Med gull present in the harbour area on these two dates, and at Skinburness 2 were reported on the beach on the 24/7/09.

Perhaps the most interesting bird of the month was the reported Steppe Grey shrike at Alston on the last day of the month but closer examination proved it to be the Great Grey shrike seen there in April which has presumably summered and become a worn plumage odd looking individual, it certainly had an odd pale bill and extensive white in the wings.

On the Butterfly front at least 8 Purple Hairsteaks showed well at Finlandrigg woods but were difficult to photograph with only some blurry digiscoped efforts managed.