Cumbrian October

A trip to Cornwall for nearly a fortnight in October meant I didn't do my early October roundup so its the whole of October in one go.

A late piece of news for last month was of a Lapland Bunting reported from Silloth docks on the 29/9.

This month started well with a Leachs Petrel south off Workington on the 3/10, while a Med Gull was also noted with 2 present on the 5/10 and some commuting to nearby Siddick Pond going on. Also at Siddick Pond a Green Winged Teal was found on the 7/10 and was still present until at least the 23/10.

Still on the coast a Ruddy Shelduck was seen in the channel between Anthorn and Cardurnock on the 7/10, though as usual with this species it is always possible it was an escape.

Bird of the month in North Cumbria was probably the Yellow Browed Warber found in a private garden in Waverton nr Wigton on the 15/10 though it only stayed half an hour or so. Another contender for bird of the month was a juvenile Honey Buzzard that drifted south over Calbeck on the 18/10.

Back on the coast a Little Stint was found at Grune Point on the 21/10 and a Spotted Redshank was seen on the rising tide at Port Carlisle on the on the 29/10 with a Merlin over and on the same day a big Twite flock of 170 was found in the Anthorn area in the area of the masts.

Another good bird was a Black Redstart found at Linksfield farm near Cockermouth on the 26/10 which may still be in the area but has been elusive.

With being in Cornwall I personally missed all of these birds and didnt see a huge amount in Cornwall except several firecrests, 3 Yellow Browed Warbers, a Red Throated Pipit and some Choughs, though we did managed to see a rare Bee, the newly colonising Colletes Hederae and the weather was lovely.

My only records from locally were after I got back later in the month, my one good day was the 28/10 when on Demesne Marsh I saw a flyover White Fronted Goose, c12000 Barnacle Geese including a white bird, 2 Ravens and a Kingfisher and later at Carr Beds a Jack Snipe and good numbers of Fieldfares and Redwings.

Fortunately I did get back in time from Cornwall to be home to go and see the stunning Eastern Crowned Warbler in South Shields on the 23/10 and managed to sneak back to Tyneside on the 29/10 to take some photos of a lovely Sabines Gull at the Fish Quay.




Heres a photo of one of the Yellow Browed Warblers from Cornwall, taken in the beautiful Nanquidno Valley.

Late September

Both of the good birds from last week lingered on a short while with the black Tern departing from Longtown on the 16/9/09 and the Red Necked Grebe present until the 19/9 at Rockliffe.



Other highlights were a Little Egret which flew down river then high back up river at Carr Beds, Rockliffe on the 17/9 and a Hobby there on the 20/9. With lower water levels on the River Eden waders reappeared with 3 Green Sandpiper and a dozen Snipe at Carr Beds on the 19/9 and a Black Tailed Godwit there on the 27/9.

A small number of Curlew Sandpipers were reported from the Solway with one at Port Carlisle on the 16/9 and again on 19/9 and 2 at both Port Carlisle and Anthorn on the 20/9. A Spotted Redshank was also present at Anthorn on the 20/9/09.

An Otter was also seen really well in the River Eden at Carlisle Cricket pitch on the 18/9/09 unusually in the middle of the day.

A small number of Med Gulls remained at Workington including the injured bird while past on seawatching were seen 5 Common Scoter and a few Red Throated Divers. Seawatching from Bowness produced a Puffin and a Great Skua as well as a dozen Scaup, the first of the winter.

September closed with the first of the returning Barnacle Geese calling overhead at several places on the last day of the month.