Properly Cold - December 2010

December 2010 will long be remembered for two periods of properly cold weather, -12 C in Carlisle and -14 C in the villages outside the city.

Lots of Waxwings were still present throughout December but the cold seemed to split up the really big flocks, with 200+ in Denton Holme and 250 on Tarraby Lane, Carlisle and 130 in Dalston the only flocks over the hundred. Many of the Waxwings have now switched to eating apples which allowed from some nice close photos in Dalston, also sharing the tree where a pair of wintering Blackcaps.


Brambling were still present in good numbers with 240 in Brampton on the 3/12 and c400 on the 1/12 at Talkin tarn, a late record for November of c2000 at Talkin tarn must have been spectacular.

Suprisingly few other birds were reported this month, 2 Red head Smew frequented the river Eden in the Grinsdale area from the 5/12 to the 13/12 then on the 15/12 they were relocated at Tindale tarn.


Other highlights included a Firecrest in Cockermouth Cemetery on the 19/12. Bitterns on ice on Siddick Pond on the 3rd and 12/12. and up to c600 Twite on Border Marsh

A lovely walk around Grune Point on the 3/12 produced a cracking female Hen Harrier, c200 Twite, c3000 Skylark and c6000 Barnacle geese, 1 drake Scaup and a Merlin. A Buzzard on a roadside post near Allonby posed for a nice photo.

The truly amazing thing this month has been the prolonged and severe cold with many river including the Eden freezing over, at Grinsdale in the photo below, this is something I've never known before and at Old Sandsfield the Eden looked almost artic.



Further inland the River Gelt provided a spectacular display of Icicles.

Waxwing November

November 2010 in north Cumbria will be remembered for a huge influx of Waxwings into the county and for unseasonally cold temperatures at the months end.

The Waxwings were to numerous to list but were present in virtually every village at one time or another with some of the biggest flocks being; Wetheral 400+ on the 20/11, Dalston 450+ on the 29/11/10, Carlisle 250+ on West walls on the 11/11/10, Penrith 323 on the 13/11/10 and 200 in Warwick Bridge on the 22/11. Interestingly if you add up all the reports from the 13/11 they total just over 1000 birds over the whole County. On a sadder note I picked up 11 dead, with 2 dead male Bullfinches on the 20/11 in Wetheral, all the result of window strikes on the same window. Another was reported dead from a window strike near Workington on the 29/11. Interestingly many of these birds particularly early in the month were seen to be fly catching
rather than berry feeding, but as the cold weather hit normal service resumed.



Other than Waxwings there were some decent birds around. I was pleased to find a juvenile Dotterel with c15oo golden plover near Gretna, just south of the border, it was first seen distantly on the 8/11 when I thought it could have been a Lesser Golden Plover but closer views on the 11/11 showed it to be a Dotterel at a very unusually late date.

Another reward for scanning roadside flocks came in the form of 2 Eurasian Whitefronted Geese in a flock of c800 Pinkfeet opposite Scotby by the A689 on the 1/11/10.


Snow Buntings were around in small numbers with 1 at Mawbray on the 13/11, 2 at Bowness Railings on the 21 and 22/11and a very unusual group of 30+ reported from Anthorn on the 22/11.



A Great Grey Shrike was found on a tetrad visit at Butterburn on the 13/11/10.

A huge count 500+ Twite was recorded at Newton Marsh on the 15/11/10, with 200+ on Skinburness Marsh on the 2/11.

An unusual bird in the north of the County a Slavonian Grebe was present on Tindale tarn from 8-26/11/10 until the cold weather caused the tarn to virtually freeze over sending the grebe on its way.

The cold weather did have a postive side thought with over 400 Brambling feeding confidingly at Talkin Tarn on the 29/11/10 and a Rough Legged Buzzard reported from nearby Tindale Fell on the 30/11. Another Rough Legged Buzzard was reported earlier in the month on the 12/11from Campfield Marsh. Also at Campfield Marsh 2 Hen Harriers, Merlin and large numbers of Tree Sparrows (100), Reed Buntings (120) and Yellowhammers (40) were seen on the 25/11.



Nearby at Port Carlisle the wintering Spotted redshank was seen intermittently all month.

On the river Esk at longtown a juv Long Tailed Duck was seen on several dates while the Ross' Goose continued to be seen on Rockliffe Marsh.

October

The month started with a lovely Ross' goose on the 5th October on Rockliffe Marsh with c12,000 Barnacle geese, it remained intermittently all month.

There was nothing else out of the ordinary until the 16/10 when a Yellow Browed warbler was found in a garden at Anthorn where it showed for most of the day, suprisingly this lovely little warbler is becoming almost annual in north Cumbria.

Whooper swans began to reappear from the middle of the month but no large numbers have yet built up with a max 68 recorded at Campfield on the 19/10. On the same day 2 Spoonbill flew over Campfield but failed to land. Up to 4 Hen harriers have been recorded here in the late afternoons.

Another Black Tern was found at Longtown ponds though only stayed briefly on the 5/10, a White Winged Black Tern was also reported at campfield on the 7/10 but it has been suggested this was a Common Tern and the only photographs produced do indeed show a Common Tern.

A female long Tailed Duck was on the Esk at Longtown on the 26/10 and was reported again a week later.

The real treat of the month was the Waxwing Invasion that began to reach Cumbria on the 24/10 with 7 in Carlisle, by the end of the month numerous flock had been reported the largest of which was 300+ on Kingstown, Carlisle on the 30/10. Keswick had held up to 40 birds, Carlisle several flocks from 20 to 300, Dalston up to 30, Wetheral up to 30 and 14 at Gilsland with numbers continuing to build. Interestingly these birds seemed to be feeding by flycatching rather than berry feeding.





Other winter visitors arrived with 35 Brambling at Talkin Tarn on the 31/10 and up to 200 Twite moving between Grune Point on the 24/10 and Anthorn on the 30/10. A Greenshank was also present at Grune on the 24/10.

A massive count of 1500 Pintail were on the falling tide on the 27/10.

September

September proved to be a good month for me finding a lovely Red Necked Phalarope on my patch at Carr Beds at dusk on the 14/9 in gales force winds and rain with 3 exhausted Guillimots on the river Eden nearby for company. I couldnt take any photos in the poor conditions so i was disappointed when there was no sign of it the following morning, however while at work i got a text to say it was present in the afternoon and afterwork i managed to get some great photos in the sunshine. It was again absent the following morning but present in the afternoon and was thought to have been taken by a sparrowhawk late afternoon, a sad end to a lovely bird.






The rest of the month was also interesting starting with a flurry of waders on the 3/9 a good count of 7 Curlew Sandpipers, all juveniles were at Port Carlisle with a spotted redshank also in the harbour. This increased to 11 juveniles the following day with the Spotted Redshank still present. Also on the 4/9 Anthorn held 15 greenshank, 6 ruff and a Black Tailed Godwit, while nearby at Whitrigg there were 2 second summer Med Gulls and 4 Little Egrets. The following day there were 17 Greenshank, 4 Ruff and 2 Little Egrets at Anthorn. On the 6/9 there were still 9 juvenile Curlew Sandpiper at Port Carlisle and away from the Solway on Thakka Flash near Penrith there were 2 Ruff. On the 12/9 there were still 7 Curlew Sandpiper at Port Carlisle with the Spotted Redshank still present as well.

A break from waders gave a female Marsh Harrier over Tindale Fell/Tarn on the 6/9, while 2 Common Terns there on the 10/9 were unusual.

The 7/9 brought 2 Black Terns to Longtown pools with 1 still present the following day which stayed until the 10/9.



Longtown also had an Osprey over the river Esk on the 8/9.

The strong winds previously mentioned on the 14/9 were productive with Black Tern on the River Eden of Rockliffe village as well as 13 Greenshank and a late Swift. There was also a Black Tern on the river Esk at longtown and 2 Ruddy Shelduck were in the river Eden channel at Rockliffe Marsh.

The wind also brought one of the very few Petrels of this year past Workington Pier, a Leach's.

I went on holiday to Cornwall on the 18/9 hoping not to miss much locally. There were Black Terns at Talkin Tarn on the 18/9 and one at Port Carlisle harbour the following day. Another Leachs Petrel went past workington on the 19/9 and one on the 20/9, while a count of 7 Med gull there was a high one.

There was a little Stint at Anthorn on the 20/9 with 2 guillimot there still suffering the effects of the storm all of which were still present the following day.

Also there were up to 5 Little Egrets in the vicinity of Campfield Marsh one of which was a colour ringed bird ringed in the Isle of Man.

2 Little Gulls were on Longtown Ponds on the 21/9 while a Brambling was ringed at Bass Lake on the 27/9 and a Waxwing was reported on the 25/9 from Dalston.

Another good migrant reported was a Yellow Browed warbler in a jockey Shield, Castle Carrock garden.

AUGUST

August is always a busy month with plenty of waders moving through.

Last months Semi Palmated Sandpiper hung on until the 3/8 giving time to study it further as opinions seemed to concure that it was a Semi P.

Away from the coast up to 2 Marsh Harriers frequented Tindale tarn on the 9-10/8, a hobby flew over on the 12/8 while a single Osprey on the 24th was joined by a second bird on the 25th. Two Ospreys were also seen over the river Esk at Longtown on the 17/8 and two were over the Caldew river near Cummersdale on the 26/8. An adult Hobby was also present over Brampton fish farm on the 25/8.

An adult Spotted Redshank at Port Carlisle Harbour from the 21/8 to the end of the month was joined on the 28/8 by a juvenile.

Curlew Sandpipers began to pass through as well with one at Port Carlisle on the 23/8 and 2 on the 29/8 then one at Anthorn on the 30/8 and Little Stint one at Grune point on the 24/8 and another again at Port Carlisle on the same day where 3 Little Egrets were also seen. Up to 6 Ruff were also present for the last week of the month at Anthorn with 1 or 2 birds on the Campfield Marsh waders scrape as well.

At Carr Beds Greenshank began to build up towards the end of the month with an impressive 21 on the 23rd and 24th of August, Green Sandpiper were present every day with a peak of 5 mid month and 3 Ruff were also present on the 23/8. Snipe started to reappear as well with up to 10 present. A Wood Sandpiper was also reported on the River Eden near Rockliffe on the 15/8.

Also at Carr Beds on the 3rd and 4/8 was a single Little Ringed plover while at Thakka Flash near Penrith a Little Ringed plover called in on the 22/8/10.

A late Swift flew over Anthorn on the 27/8

The month finished with an excellent record of 1 then 2 Lapland Buntings, always a scarce bird in Cumbria, at Tindale Tarn.

No decent bird photos from North cumbria this month so a Lizard from Finlandrigg instead.

JULY

July was a more interesting month in Cumbra with waders on the move again as Autumn begins.

3 Green Sandpiper remained at Carr Beds all month becoming 6 for the last week of the month. Also present in the last week of the month were between 2 and 12 Greenshank. The windy period in the first week of the month saw a Little Ringed Plover downstream from Rockliffe and 8 Black Tailed Godwits. A Grasshopper Warbler continued to reel all month at Carr Beds even in windy conditions and a Winchat on the 27/7 was unusual. A female Garganey was also present on the 25/7/10

A Wood Sandpiper was seen briefly at Thacka Flash near Penrith on the 19/7/10

Longtown saw an Osprey on the 2/7/10 with a juvenile Yellow Wagtail also present on the river shingle. Another Osprey flew over Talkin Tarn on the 20/7 heading for Tindale tarn.

A Red Kite was found near Anthorn which showed a Green left wing and Blue right wing tag making it a 2001 Dumfries and Galloway bird, always a scarce bird in cumbria I managed to grab this pathetic photo with my macro lens.



Owl watching was still rewarding on the occasional still evening with up to 3 Short Eared Owls and 3 fledged juvenile Long Eared Owls in the Upper Gelt area. A hobby also flew over here and I managed some marginally better photos. A brood of fledged Winchats were also seen. Another Hobby was seen at Wedholme Flow on the 20/7/10.



A pair of Little Owls with 2 juveniles were also found along the River Eden.

The potential bird of the month was a Stint species found on the 28/7 by Darren Robson. After RBA and others were consulted the bird was put out as a SemiPalmated Sandpiper though in the following day or two the id was questioned as to the possibility of the bird being a Little Stint. Still present to the east of Port Carlisle at the time of writing the bird is still being generally accepted by those who have seen it in the field as a SemiP Sandpiper and on the second occasion that I saw it it certainly seemed to show Palmations/webs between the upper toes. The plumage does seem to contain some characteristics of Little stint including two "tram lines" down the back and some rufous coloration on the upper scapulars but the feeding action of a slower picking type and the structure of the bird do not suggest Little Stint. As far as I understand the webbing is diagnostic where as the plumage can be variable so assuming the webbing was not a trick of the mud, which it did not seem to be as other birds feeding in the same area did not show it, the vote would have to go for SemiP. It will be interesting to see if the experts come up with a definate conclusion, either way an interesting bird.

Also in the vicinty of Port Carlisle harbour was an adult Spotted Redshank on the 30/7 with Little Egret and Peregrine seen while 58 Manx Shearwater were reported the following day.

June

June is always a fairly quiet month but some good birds still appear. The month started with a Green winged Teal at Campfield RSPB from 2-6th June and a Quail calling nearby. Quail appeared at a few places with 3 near Dalston, 1 near Bromfield and another near Longtown in the first 2 weeks on June.

Red Kite over Anthorn was a good record on the 5/6/10 and a summer plumage Spotted Redshank was near Port Carlisle harbour on the 21/6. 3 Green Sandpiper were seen at Carr beds, Rockliffe on the 25/6 presumably returning birds but just possibly still going North.
Two Whooper Swans, both injured birds, were also at Rockliffe with one bird now having been present for 4 years and a Grasshopper Warbler reeled regularly late evening at Carr beds.

A walk at Miltonrigg on the 14/6 was well rewarded with 2 adult and 4 recently fledged young wood Warblers and a Crossbill over.

The last week or so of June proved to be excellent for Owls on the Geltsdale reserve with up to 3 Short Eared Owls, 2 Barn Owls and a lovely long Eared Owl showing well. Cuckoo and Tree Pipits are also both around in good numbers.


For me the bird of the month apart from the owls was this stunning Marmoras Warbler in Gwent, Wales

May

May is always a great month where ever you live. I'll start with a pic of last month Curlew Sandpiper which i forgot to include, a lovely summer plumage individual.


Two more late records for April were a drake Garganey at Campfield Marsh RSPB on the 30/4 and 2 Dotterel on Melmerby Fell on the same date. The Gargeney remained until the 1/5 and a female Marsh Harrier was reported from Bowness Common on the 6/5.

After that it went a bit quiet for a few days but 5 male Yellow wagtails at Longtown on the 5/5 was a pleasing count and a Greenshank was at Carr beds on the 7/5. The 9/5 proved good for me though finding a Wood sandpiper on the river shingle at Longtown, it seemed settled when I left late evening but there was no sign the following morning

On the 12/5 the wind returned to the western direction that brings Skuas up the Solway and 4 Pomarine Skuas and 2 Artic were seen from Bowness. On the 13/5 6 Poms went past with a single of Bonxie and Artic Skua then on the 15/5 that great prize a Long Tailed Skua was seen and also 3 Poms, 2 Artics and a Great skua. The following day proved to be the best of the season with 11 long tailed Skua, 11 Poms, 2 Artics and a Great skua. Interestingly though none of these were seen particularly well 10 of the long Taileds in a single group were seen to come in high then rise up and up until they eventually disappeared into dark cloud, not something I have ever seen before and contrary to the belief that cloud cover keeps the skuas low down. The last of the skuas of the season on the 17/5 were 2 Artics and a Great Skua and a distant but possible 4 Long Tailed skuas.

A trip up to jockey shield/upper Gelt was well rewarded on the 18/5 with short Eared Owl, Barn Owl, Long Eared Owl and calling Tawny Owl as well as 2 male Black Grouse, 3 cuckoos and a Tree pipit.

Two Ospreys went through over Tindale Tarn on the 19/5 and the following day another passed over Dalston.

The 20/5 saw a Little Ringed plover in the vicinty of Rockliffe which was still present two days later and the 2o/5 also saw 2 lovely Spoonbills on the roadside scrape at Campfield Marsh unusually they were still present the following day and a careful sneak throught the gorse allowed a photo without bothering the birds. They were joined by a full summer plumage Spotted redshank on the 21/5 as well while several Grasshopper Warbler reeled from nearby gorse scrub.

The last week of May for me was spent on Mull which was heavenly with the pick of the birds being this calling Corncrake, though finding a Black Kite and watching a White Tailed Eagle attack a Gannet rate pretty highly to.


In North Cumbria a Wood Sandpiper graced the roadside scrape at Campfield Marsh for the 23 and 24/5.

Mid March to the End of April

Well its been 6 weeks rather than 2 since my last post and I can only blame computer troubles, at least I should have plenty to write about in this post as this period cover both the spring migrants and the start of the Skua passage.

The first of the Sand Martins arrived on the 17/3/10 with 4 at Cummersdale near Carlisle, Swallows were not for behind with one over the river at langwathby on the 20/3 quite early. Swifts had to wait a while longer to arrive but were still early with 3 in Stanwix, Carlisle on the 23/4 and good numbers in by the 29/4 again this was early.

Our other expected March Migrant the Chiffchaff arrived in small numbers on the 20/3 with the Willow Warbler early to arrive on the 6/4/10. Blackcaps in contrast seem to sneak in almost unnoticed.

The rest of the migrants waited until April though in the case of Common Sandpiper only just with one at Carr beds on the 1/4 with the first of the passage Greenshanks there on the 23/4.
Whimbrel appeared in small numbers on the same day with 15 at Longtown on the Esk and continued to be reported in good numbers with 130 near Port Carlisle on the 30/4. A Green Sandpiper reappeared at CArr beds on the 11/4 and was seen regularly until the last week of the month.

Yellow Wagtail reappeared fairly early on the 10/4 with a male on the Esk and a good count of 5 males there on the 28/4. While counts of 14 White Wagtails at Carr Beds and 10 at Longtoown in the last week of April seemed large to me.

Pied Flycatcher was also in by the 12/4 in Lower Gelt woods and Grasshopper Warbler made it this far north by the 18/4. Whitethroat was first reported near Carlisle on the 21/4 and the first Lesser Whitethroats were at Bowness NR and North Plain on the 23/4.

The Bass lake Ospreys had returned by the 1/4 and settled into nest building straight away. While passage Ospreys were reported in big numbers with 8 through the Carr Beds/Rockliffe area in the week of the 17-24th April and 3 reported in an hour from the Dalston area on the 21/4, one through tindale tarn on the 27/4 and one over the M6 Eden bridge on the 23/4. Here is one of the Carr Beds birds flying overhead.



Other passage waders this April included Spotted Redshank in Port Carlisle harbour on the 12/4. Curlew sandpiper a summer plumage bird on 28/4 Bowness Railings and 2 different Little Stints, one on 26/4 one on the 28/4 both at Bowness railings with the big Dunlin flock.

Also on the move and taking advantage of the good soaring weather were a Crane on the 10/4 over Lanercost and a White Stork over Carlisle/Wigton on the 11/4.

Whooper Swans moved out at the end of the first week of April with 28 still reported at Lessonhall, while good numbers of Pinkfeet and some Barnacle Geese remained to the end of the month. 2 excellent geese records of Snow Goose and Greenland White Front in with c200 Pinks in field to the north of the road at Longcroft came on the 9/4/10. While a Bean Goose was at Whiterigg on the 4/4.

A Garganey was at Easton on a small flash on the 15/4 and remained a few days, then a pair of Gargeney were at North Plain from the 29/4 though hard to see in the long reeds. Also at North Plain were up to 70 black Tailed Godwits some in lovely summer dress and a Little Egret on the 11/4 while a Marsh Harrier was reported on the 23/3.

Last but not least came the Skua Passage. It started for me with a Bonxie on the 5/4 the the Pomarine Skuas began on the 16/4 with 2 past the Viaduct. Then a run of moderate SW winds brought 6 Pomarine Skua past Bowness on the 26/4 with 1 each of Artic and Great Skua and a bonus of 3 Little Gulls and c90 Scoter. The 27/4 saw 2 Pomarines past and the 28/4 5 poms with another Great and Another Artic skua past. The 29/4 and the 30/4 both produced a single pomarine Skua with another Great Skua on the latter date. The wind then swang swung northerly and the passage ceased.

It also sees the start of the butterflies hatching this month and I had my first Orange Tip on the 19/4, Large White on the 17/4 and this lovely green Hairsteak on the 21/4.

Mid Feb to Mid March

Very quite again for the last few weeks with very few records.

On Grune Point a flock of 150+ Twite on the 17/2 was a good count though there has been little else there with Scaup numbers low, 4 on the 28/2 and Pintail numbers also poor, 12 on the 28/2. On the plus side 25 Yellowhammer was a reasonably good number.

Further down the coast the regular wintering Purple Sandpipers at Workington gave a count of 25+ on the 18/2 and 2 Med Gulls were also present.

Away from the coast the pair of Smew were on Tindale Tarn from the 15/2 until at least the 7/3 with a female on Talkin Tarn on the 27/2. A drake Smew and 2 Redheads were then located on Longtown ponds on the 8/3 and a drake and single redhead were still present on the 13/3.

At Carr Beds even low water levels didnt bring many birds but a Green Sandpiper on the 19/2 was good and a small flock of c30 whooper Swans remained throughout. On the same day about 3000 Barnacle Geese were present at Cardurnock and had in them a single leucistic bird again, just visible in the middle of the photo below.



A walk at Armathwaite on the 4/3 saw 3 Crossbills, c40 Siskin and a Dipper with a few spring flower such as Celandine, Crocus and Aconite starting to appear.

The 13/3 also brought the interesting news of a White Stork roosting on buildings by the Railway in upperby, Carlisle though the bird was reported to be ringed on both legs.

Hopefully the next few weeks will bring the migrants flooding in

Mid Jan to Mid Feb

Well it seemed quiet in North Cumbria for the last month and I've been away as well so I thought I'd do a long summary instead of two shorter ones. In Mid January it was cold still with plenty of snow and ice around but by mid February it was mild damp and a feeling of spring was just beginning.

A trip to Grune point on the 17/1/10 was well rewarded as usual with a ring tail Hen Harrier, Peregrine, a wintering Greenshank, about 25 Twite, lots of Knot and Bar Tailed Godwits, 8 Scaup and a Ruff though this last bird was only seen by others.





Away from the coast the Black Redstart that had been occasionally reported from Penrith was relocated feeding on waste ground next to the Post Office and showed well until the first week of February though viewing was tricky through the fence.

At Carr Beds a really good count of 65 Yellowhammer on several days brightened up a quiet patch with little other than a fly through Merlin, a few Whooper Swans and c20 Goldeneye around otherwise.

The Drake and Red head Smew were present on Talkin Tarn until the 19/1 when they relocated to Tindale Tarn and were still present there on at least the 09/02.

A Waxwing in an Irthington garden on the 12/2/10 could be the start of a late influx as decent numbers have started to arrive on the east coast in the last week.

Other than the above there really was very little reported, 2 Med Gulls at Workington and 6 Crossbills over Gowk Bank the only other things of note.

Hard Frozen Early January

Still hard frozen for the first week of January North Cumbria started to produce some birds in unusual places. The Red Throated Diver was still present at Carr beds on the 3/1/10 but was starting to look unwell as this picture of it hauled out on a very cold morning shows. i didn't see it subsequently but was pleased to hear it had been seen fishing the following day downriver. It or another was reported from the M6 motorway bridge over the Eden on the 10/1/10.

Also on the River Eden 2 Smew were on the river near Cargo on the 3/1/10, a RT Hen Harrier was also seen and further up river a Common Sandpiper was reported. A walk from Cargo to Rockliffe on the 11/1/10 produced 126 Goldeneye, 23 Goosander and a single Jack Snipe.

At Port Carlisle harbour the long staying Long Billed Dowitcher was still present up to the 5/1/10 when the harbour itself froze and its feeding area was covered, it has not been seen since.

Two Spotted redshank were present on New Years day, as was a Little Egret, though only 1 Spotted Redshank was seen after that until the big freeze.


Also on New years day I was lucky enough to get this nice photo of a Leucistic Barnacle Goose near Cardurnock and on the Saltmarsh opposite Anthorn a single Pale Bellied Brent Goose was present.


After the 5/1/10 the hard freezing weather meant fewer birds were reported and travel became tricky again. but a few hardy souls still ventured out and a good count of 47 Purple Sandpiper was recorded at Workington, Bittern and Water rail were seen at Siddick Ponds on the ice on the 8/1/10 and on the same day 3 Short Eared Owls and good numbers of Black Grouse (87) were reported from the Tindale Tarn area.

A thaw began on the 10/1/10 but birds remained few and far between as the ground and frozen pools took several more days to thaw. However Campfield RSPB came up trumps even though the pools remained frozen a good bird was still found on the 13/1/10 when a Snow Goose was present with c500 Pinkfeet. On the same day at Penrith a Black Redstart was reported and had apparently been around for at least a week.

Back on the coast at Grune Point a cold walk on the 5/1/10 saw Ring tailed Hen Harrier and 2 Peregrine hunting the saltmarsh while a single Little Stint was with the waders and a single Brambling still with the small Chaffinch flock. Only 4 Scaup, 30 Pintail and c500 Widgeon were present in a poor show for ducks but a Fox stalking them out on the marsh and in view for ages made a lovely sight against the snow.

The cold weather also meant Woodcock became more visible with 1 seen at Jockey shield on the 8/1/10 and another at Demesne Marsh on the same day, at least 2 in the area of north Plain farm on the 13/1/10 and 2 from Finlandrigg Woods on the 7/1/10.

Finally the pair of smew reappeared at Talkin Tarn as it slowly defrosted on the 13/1/10 and were still present on the 15/1/10.