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.