Last Two weeks of the Year

The second half of December was freezing in Cumbria, heavy snowfall followed by freezing temperatures and tricky travelling but if anything it made the birding better.

The Long Billed Dowitcher remained in the vicinity of Port Carlisle harbour throughout and was often joined by a Spotted Redshank and up to 2 Little Egrets, with a nice group of 95 Scaup floating past on the 18/12.




The drake Smew remained on Longtown ponds and the female Long tailed Duck was still on talkin Tarn on the 22/12 but had gone by the 26/12. Brambling numbers at the Tarn rose to 200 on the 19/12 but no more than 40 were reported after that, while a Kingfisher and up to 38 Goosander were seen. A Nuthatch was also showing very well.

On the Solway on the 18/12 5 Little Egrets were on the saltmarsh either side of the inland end of the Viaduct while a walk at Grune Point on the same day saw 2 Little stints again overwintering at this site and a Jack Snipe in the marshy grass. Another walk at Grune on the 29/12 on a hard frozen day saw 2 Peregrines, a ring tail Hen harrier, Merlin, Sparrowhawk, a Little Stint, c20 Twite, c3000 Barnacle Geese and a single Brambling with a flock of c20 Chaffinches. Also a small group of Fieldfares were feeding on the frozen turf allowing some nice photos.

A Bittern was seen at Siddick Pond, Workington on the 30/12.


The month ended for me with a nice Red Throated diver at Carr Beds on the 30/12 with a female Scaup and a Jack Snipe also present. Other walks at Carr beds on the 25/12 and 26/12 produced a Jack Snipe on both days and a Little Egret and 2 Otters on the latter date.

HAPPY NEW YEAR HOPE ITS GOOD TO EVERYONE CHEERS NICK

Start of Winter

The first half of December finally brought some dry bright weather mixed in with the usual fog and drizzle. The Long Billed Dowitcher was still around somewhere throughout the fortnight but wasnt pinned down again until the 12/12/09, it then showed well in Port Carlisle harbour for the next few days, unusually allowing me to get a second go at photos.

New birds this fornight included a lovely female Long Tailed Duck found on Talkin Tarn on the 2/12 it remained until at least the 14/12 showing well but feeding continuously and spending amazing length of time underwater. Also present on the Tarn were up to 28 goosander though numbers fluctuated.

Also inland a drake Smew was found on the largest of Longtown pools on the 13/12 and was still present the following day, as were 8 Gadwall, 7 goosander and at least 20 goldeneye.

Those watching the Long Billed Dowitcher on the 13/12 also found a close in Great Northern Diver and in Port Carlisle harbour itself a Little Egret and a Spotted Redshank both showed well.

Nearby at North Plain/Campfield Marsh the largest ever roost of 224 Whooper Swans came into the pools at the top of the Lonnen on the 8/12, also present recently have been up to 2 male Hen Harriers, a Little Egret and good numbers of Teal and Widgeon with at least 30 Pintail present on the 13/13.

Two Water Pipits were also reported here on the 12/12 with Meadow Pipit on the flash on the east of the track.

On Grune Point the Snow Bunting could not be relocated but 2 Merlins and a Peregrine, a dozen Scaup, a good count of 22 Grey Plover and a big roost of Knot and Bar Tailed Godwits were decent reward for a cold day on the 4/12/09. While on the very misty day of 10/12 little could be seen but a flock of c30 Twite were very vocal on the end of the point.

Further down the coast 2 Bitterns were reported at their regular wintering site of Siddick Pond, Workington on the 12/12 with one seen again on the 13/12.

Late November

The second half of the month started with floods and ended with the first frosts, typical for November.

Whooper Swans were present in good numbers with a lovely herd of 102 present on roadside floods near Calvo on the 30/11 and good numbers at Beaumont throughout with a maximum count there of 185 on the 23/11.

The long billed Dowitcher remained at Port carlisle harbour on the 16 and 17/11 and was reported again on the afternoons of the 23/11 and 27/11 though typically there was no sign of it on the morning of the 23/11 when I went for another look.

Up to 2 Little egrets were present intermittently throughout the fortnight in Port Carlisle harbour and the Spotted Redshank was present until the 20/11/09 but not subsequently.
Twite also put in a good show with 40 in the harbour on the 23/11 and counts of 50+ and 25 near Anthorn Masts. While on a walk along Grune Point on the 30/11/09 a big flock of 140+ twite flew from the saltmarsh over the point and back again.

Also on Grune point on the 30/11/09 I found a lovely little Snow Bunting right at the end in the same place as the previous two years, also present on the marsh were a Peregrine and huge flocks of knot and Bar Tailed Godwit with 8 Scaup in the channel east of the point.

At North Plain hide up to 3 Hen Harriers including 2 males were reported some days while a count of 114 Shoveler on the 23/11 was high and up to 90 Whooper Swans roosted each evening. 2 Little Egrets also dropped in briefly on the first pool on the 30/11 before flying out towards the saltmarsh

Huge numbers of fieldfares gathered on the Hawthorn bushes on Burgh Marsh edge with at least 750 there on the 30/11/09.

With Carr Beds still under a lot of flood water the only decent sightings from the area were 103 Goldeneye on the river at Rockliffe and opposite Redhills Farm on the Beaumont side 3 Jack Snipe were flushed from the reeds with c20 Snipe.

Early November

The month started off quietly but there was a quality bird waiting to be found, on the 13/11/09 a Long billed dowitcher was reported in Port Carlisle harbour. Now sometimes these reports simply fade away to nothing and very little information was forthcoming so I didnt get too excited but the bird was relocated on the morning of the 14/11 and was still present on the 15/11. It showed very well but the poor light meant the photos were stricly record shots, aged as a 1st winter bird it was, I think, the 5th for Cumbria.

Also present in the harbour was an adult Spotted Redshank and at least 40 Snipe.

Most of the records for this fortnight were from the Solway area with up to 2 male Hen Harriers showing intermittently from North Plain hide with a Merlin present there on the 8/11/09. A walk along Grune Point on the 2/11/09 produced 2 late Greenshank, 2 Peregrine and at least 400 Pintail while a stroll out to the end of Bowness Viaduct on the 8/11 found a juvenile Ruff feeding with Redshank on the waters edge.

Whoopers Swan herds in the area continued to swell with a massive 600+ reported from the Newton Arlosh area and 210 from the Beaumont/Rockliffe herd which included c10% juveniles.

Carr beds was as usual under a flood but a walk down Demesne Marsh on the 13/11 produced a Little Egret, 13 Twite, 2 Ravens and 29 Whooper Swans.

Inland a few Brambling started to reappear at their favourite haunt of Talkin Tarn with c30 on the 10/11 and 6 on the 13/11, there were also 12 goosanders on the former date and 14 on the latter.

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.

Early September - thats a bit better

Finally the rain stopped and the sun came out and with it a bit of wind which brought me at least 3 cracking juveniles Sabines Gulls past Workington on the 4/9/09, 2 were reported the day before and on the 5/9/09 a juvenile lingered near the harbour for over an hour. A Black Throated Diver and a Black Guillimot were also reported past on the 3/9 with the odd Manx Shearwater on several days as well. The resident Med Gull remained from last month and a good count of 7 were present on the 5/9/09 while up to 40 Kittiwakes roosted on the pier.

On the 7/9 the first Little Stint of the season was found at Anthorn and a Hobby was there a couple of days later. A Curlew Sandpiper was also found here on the 13/9/09 and nearby on the 10/9 an immature Marsh Harrier flew through Campfield Marsh while an Osprey was seen at Anthorn near the masts.

The best was still to come for me though and on a quick trip out afterwork on the 12/9/09 I first found a Black Tern at Longtown Pools

and then half an hour later a Red Necked Grebe at Rockliffe on the river Eden. Both juveniles they both remained present until at least the 15/9/09.


The receeding water levels also meant a few waders were again around and Carr Beds had a Green Sandpiper on several dates and a Greenshank on the 14/9/09 with Snipe numbers increasing up to c20. A single Goldeneye reappeared again on the 12/9 and at least 2 kingfishers were still about.

The feel of Autumn in the air was definately enhanced by the first of the Pinkfeet Geese going over with several Skeins reported on the 10/9/09.

Late August Wet and wetter

Well birding in Cumbria has been a bit of a challenge the last fortnight as all it does is pour down. On a rare dry day a trip to Workington on the 17/8/09 was well rewarded with 4 Storm Petrels and a Leachs Petrel, the latter standing out as being bigger and with a prominent upper wing flash and a greyer tone, its behaviour was different as well with the Stormies lingering while the Leachs flew straight through and on southwards. In the harbour the first winter Med gull with a bad leg was still present and allowed good photos. A Med Gull and a little Gull were also reported from Campfield Marsh on the 22/8/09.



Other than that very little was reported, 2 Ospreys lingered over Demesne Marsh for a couple of hours with at least one seen to fly up river past Carr Beds on the 19/8/09. While an immature Marsh Harrier was reported on the same day from Tindale Tarn and an Osprey was there on the 27/8 briefly.

With Carr beds virtually underwater only a single Greenshank and a single Green Sandpiper were seen on a couple of occasions and by the end of the month a Little Grebe had appeared, a sign winter is on its way.

The other highpoint of the fortnight for me was a quick day away in Northumberland to see a SemiPalmated Sandpiper at Cresswell as part of a nice day in the sun with Roseate terns, Spotted Redshank, Artic skuas etc as support cast. Made a change from the Rain.

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.

Waders on the move Early July

This fortnight saw a fair few more waders back in North Cumbria, starting with a Green Sandpiper on the 2/7/09 at Carr Beds this rose to 2 on the 3/7 and then 3 on the 5/7 and the 9/7 with one remaining until at least the 14/7/09. Two Greenshank were also present on the 3/7/09 and at Demesne Marsh just down river on the 8/7/09. Bird of the fortnight for me was a Little Ringed Plover at Carr Beds late evening of the 14/7 accompanied by a Ringed plover on the same piece of shingle allowing nice comparisons. Even more excitement on the 15/7/09 when the adult LRP was joined by a juvenile and I managed to get a record shot of it.



Common Sandpipers peaked at around 22 on the 5/7/09 at Carr Beds but there were probably more downstream and 3 Snipe were regularly feeding in the open at Carr Beds.

A drake Scaup also remained at Carr Beds from the start of the month and Goosander numbers reached a minimum of 45.

Away from the water Quail were reported calling in several places including 2 at Aikbank near Wigton from the end of June at least, 2 more were near Longburgh on the 12/7 and another 2 near Cliburn on the 9/7 with another at Ousby on the 8/7/09.

A reeling Grasshopper Warbler was a nice sound near Mosedale on the 8/7/09 on a day when at least 15 Keeled Skimmer Dragonflies and a single bog Orchid were good finds nearby.

At Miltonrigg I was shown a Wood Warbler nest which was empty but had apparently fledged 6 young, it was beautifully concealed on the ground against a fallen pine bough.

At Finlandrigg at least 30 Crossbills were seen on the heath on the 1/7/09 with 9 at Jockey Shield a couple of days later.

Late June

The birds picked up a bit in the second half of June. Two Wood Sandpipers were found, one with a Green Sandpiper at Thacka Flash next to the motorway at Penrith and the second I found at Carr Beds at dusk both on the 24/6. Two Green Sandpiper were also present intermittently at Carr Beds between the 23/6 and 30/6.

Two Hobbies were also seen, one at Sandale near Bolton low houses on the 27/6 and the second on the 29/6 at finlandrigg NNR.

A Little Tern also paid a brief visit to tindale Tarn on the 29/6/09 an unusual bird inland for Cumbria.

At Miltonrigg the Pied Flycatcher brood fledged and 2 Wood Warblers were singing on the 19/6/09.

The main excitement of the week was that a new baby bird has appeared in the Franklin household which may slow down my birding a bit. He's already got a bit of seawatchers intense stare about him.

Early June

Traditionally this is always a quite time for birds locally and this year took that to the extreme. In the first fortnight of June there were only 2 bird reports to Birdguides, a Hobby in Upper Geltsdale and a calling Quail near Cockermouth, thats quiet. The birding Cumbria Yahoo group was the same with a flyover Red Kite in Geltsdale and a Wood Warbler at Miltonrigg.

The return of the Wood Warbler to Miltonrigg was good news but last year there were 6 singing males in the same area. Better news was a lovely pair of Pied Flycatchers taking food into a nest at Miltonrigg, while 2 Greater Spotted Woodpecker nests also held vocal young.


At Carr Beds other than the occasional Kingfisher the only thing of note were 2 large Goosander broods, one of 19.

Mid to Late May

Late May on the Solway turned out to be a real Skua fest with totals reaching 213 Pomarine skua, 19 Long Tailed including a flock of 9, 45 Artics and 13 Great Skuas passed by on strong SW winds, numbers for specific days are detailed in the table here.

Other good birds were also seen with my reward for getting the tide time wrong and starting skua watching very early on the 18/5 being a Spoonbill flying from the Scotch side over to Campfield Marsh where it remained to dusk.

Another aspect of the seawatching on the 18/5/09 was that the strong wind produced 35+ Manx Shearwaters, including 22 together, an uncommon bird in the Inner Solway.


Away from the sea virtually the only thing of interest reported was a Hobby with Swifts over Carlisle on the 28/5/09.

It was good to see that the Marsh Fritillary butterflies were flying in good numbers starting on the 22/5 with 3 the warm last week of May saw good numbers, this was also true of White Faced Darters at their North Cumbrian site

One of the high point for me recently has being able to watch 3 Otters on the River Eden near Rockliffe on warm evenings, attempts at photography can be seen one of which shows the Otters attempts to retain its catch of a huge eel which has wrapped itself around the Otters body.

Early May

The Skua passage made a return to form after a poor year in 2008 with plenty of passage. I thought the details would make more sense in a table, see below. After the 9/5 the wind turned East and things dried up so no birds passing.


Other than Skuas I found a summer plumage Great Northern diver, always a scarce bird on the solway, on the seawatch on the 8/5/09 and a Little Gull on the 5/5, then 2 little gulls on the 9/5.

With the change in the wind attention turned to my Longtown patch which turned up a lovely drake Garganey on the 13/5/09 with 3 Little Gulls present on the 11/5 and 5 Little Gulls on the 15/5/09.

Yellow Wagtails continued to be seen, with at least 2 pairs present and the nesting Dipper was seen with food in its beak. Several White Wagtails were also to be found most visits, up to 10 Whimbrel were present and a count of 25 Goosander on the 13/5/ was good.



A little Egret was at Campfield Marsh RSPB on the 6/5 and both Redstart and Pied Flycatcher in Miltonrigg woods on the 10/5.

Late April

Late April is the start of the skua passage in Cumbria and after a disappointing year last year it was good to see some passage. The first Pomarine Skuas went past on the 22/4/09 with 2 pale phase adults past Bowness Viaduct on a day when I didnt expect anything as the wind was a light easterly, but as birds had been reported from Newbie in Dumfries and Galloway on the previous 2 days with similar winds I thought it was worth a try. Three Pomarines skuas were then seen past the Viaduct on the 24/4 before the passage ground to a halt again with winds staying easterly, hopefully May will be better. The only other skua reported was a Great Skua past the Viaduct on the 19/4.

Other than skuas it was a time of migrants arriving, with the first Swifts early on the 18/4/09, House Martins also early on the 22/4, Lesser Whitethroat also early on the 19/4 at Campfield RSPB and Grasshopper Warbler reeling on the same date also at Campfield while Pied Flycatchers were back in Lower Gelt woods on the 20/4/09.

Some Species were notable by their abscence with very few Sedge warbler having arrived by the end of the Month.

Of the Waders Whimbrel showed a good passage with a count of 25 at Longtown on the Esk on the 26/4/09 while at Carr Beds passage green Sandpipers were seen on the 16/4 and 19/4 with a Greenshank present on the 23/4. An adult Little Gull was also present on the Esk at Longtown on the 25/4 and 26/4, possibly the bird that flew past the Viaduct on the 22/4/09.

Also on the 22/4/09 4 ruff, 12 Black Tailed godwit and a good count of 40 White Wagtails were reported from Wedholme Flow.

Passage Ospreys continued to move through with one fishing the Eden at Carlisle just east of the M6 bridge on the 30/4/09.

Early April - Proper Spring

The trickle of migrants in late March turned into a proper Spring in early April. Willow Warbler arrived fairly early on the 5/4/09 with one singing in Bowness Nature Reserve and then were well established within a few days, Swallows started to appear in greater numbers and from the 7/4/09 small groups were reported from various locations in North Cumbria. The first Common Sandpipers were reported back on the upper Eden on the 9/4/09 and were back on the Eden at Carr Beds on the 10/4/09, then at longtown on the Esk two days later when an early Yellow Wagtail was also reported.

The first Redstarts were reported back at Talkin Tarn on the 12/4/09 with 2 singing in Sluice Wood and on the 14/4/09 a male Pied flycatcher was back at Jockey shield with Tree Pipits reported first on the 10/4/09.

At Campfield Marsh a drake Garganey appeared on the 9/4/09, another relatively early date, it was then joined that evening by a second drake and a female. These ducks were still present on the 13/4/09 but on the 14/4 only 1 drake was evident. A walk up to the hide at Campfield on the 10/4 also produced 28 Twite, 2 White Wagtails and 34 Black Tailed Godwits as well as the 3 Garganey. A lovely fox appeared at one point from the wood behind the pools and attempted to stalk the Garganey but they were quickly onto it and kept it in sight at all times. A Whimbrel also flew over the hide on the 12/4/09.

Wintering birds were still present in early April but started to fade away towards the middle of the month with the last reported date for the iceland Gull being the 7/4/09 at Old Sandsfield. there were still 60 Whooper Swans present at Beaumont on the 1/4/09 but by the 8/4 the herd was down to 15 and by the 14/4 only the regular injured bird was present. likewise Goldeneye on the Eden at Rockliffe had dwindled to only a few first winter birds by the 14/4/09. The Smew at Tindale Tarn was last reported on the 4/4/09 when it was displaying and seemed active.

The Ospreys appeared back on the nest area at Bass Lake in late March and during the first couple of weeks of April several migrants were seen travelling north with singles at Dalston on the 7/4/09, at Upper Gelt on the 4/4/09 and 13/4/09.

A good bird for North cumbria Great grey Shrike was first reported on the 1/4/09 at Alston Moor then independently found by Darren Robson on the 5/4/09 at the Alston Moor Golf club car park where it lingered until at least the 14/4/09.

The period ended nicely for me with a lovely Black Throated Diver from Bowness Viaduct on the 14/4/09 which floated in then treated me to a nice fly past as it flew out to sea again.

No bird photos this fortnight so hopefully a lovely female Tawny Mining Bee and a scarce flower Yellow Star of Bethlehem will make a nice change.

Springs arrived Late March in N Cumbria

Spring arrived properly this fortnight with some lovely weather and the first Sand Martins at Longtown Ponds on the 15/3/09. Chiffchaffs arrived on the 17/3/09 with one at Wetheral and then several reports on the 18/3/09, including one on Etterby scaur. The first Wheatears were in at Campfield wader scrape with 2 males present on the 19/3/09 and the same day the first Ring Ousel was reported at Geltsdale. Swallows were slower to arrive with just the first few passing through, the earliest reported was one on the Caldew at Cummersdale on the 18/03/09.
The first migrant Blackcap was a singing bird at Watchtree Nature Reserve on the 31/3/09.

A fair number of wintering birds remained with the drake Smew still present on Tindale Tarn until at least the 29/3/09 while 2 lovely male Brambling were still at Forest Head on the same day. The Iceland Gull was still present on Backenridge in Carlisle though it seems to now be commuting to Old Sandsfield where I found it on the 15/3/09 and it was seen again on the 26/3/09. A Jack Snipe was the only unusual bird at Carr beds seen on the 21/3/09 while the 2 Long Tailed Duck still remained with c20 Scaup at Grune point until the 31/3 at least.

A small flock of 16 Waxwings reappeared in Carlisle off Dalston Road on the 25/3/09, possibly the Wetheral birds from earlier in the month but equally likely winter visitors returning northwards.




A Green Sandpiper was found at Longtown on the 25/3/09 which could have been an early passage bird but was most likely wintering and the Greenshank was still wintering at port Carlisle on the 29/3/09.

A Green Winged Teal reported on the 25/3/09 at Campfield RSPB was potentially the rarest bird of the fortnight and it was still present in the following few days, with the odd Black Tailed Godwit also seen. A Little Egret was present on Burgh Marsh on the 26 and 27/3/09.

The first Osprey was reported back on the 25/3/09 at Bass Lake where a second bird quickly joined it.

The first few butterflies began to appear, all having hibernated. Painted Lady was reported at Dalston by the river Caldew and Peacock and Tortoishell were reported from several locations.

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

Early February

The first week of February was one of snow and cold before a return to slightly milder greyer weather for the second week.

Little new was found in North Cumbria this fortnight but several good birds remained from earlier, with Grune point being the best location. One big exception though was the White Tailed Sea eagle found on the sand off Bowness Viaduct on the morning of the 10/2/09, a juvenile bird with a radio transmitter it flew north around lunchtime but could still be seen over Annan and the following day was near Castle Douglas. Unfortunatley it was not available for the workers of the world.

At Grune the 3 Little Stints were still present, though often only 2 could be found, as were the 2 Long Tailed Ducks and both Short Eared Owl and Merlin. The Snow Bunting was refound on the 31/1/09 and stayed throughout providing some good photo opportunities it spent most of its time on the sea debris out past the old Pill box. A group of Scaup could regularly be found in the eastern channel as well with as many as 26 on the 15/2/09. A Greenshank was also present on the 6th and 13th of feb with good numbers of Black Tailed Gowits (30+) and Bar Tailed Godwits (c800) on the 13/2/09.




On the 13/2/09 Darren Robson found an Iceland Gull at Silloth which proved to be different to the Maryport bird which was still present though becoming more elusive on the 13th as well.

Good numbers of Whooper Swans were still around with 210 near Abbeytown on the 13th and up to 75 at Beaumont/Carr beds throughout. Also at Carr Beds lower water levels meant the Green Sandpiper was present on the 14/2/09.

Away from the coast 3 Waxwings were in a Wetheral Garden on the 3/2/09 and the drake Smew was still present on Talkin Tarn as Tindale Tarn froze over.

On a personal note we had an excellent trip to Norfolk with heavy snow mixed in with Blue skies. The birding high points were GG Shrike, Glaucous gull, a male Hen Harrier, a flock of over 150 Snow buntings, 6 Barn Owls in one scan and Short Eared Owl. We also managed to get stunning views of BearedTits and Black Brant, Water Pipits and Tundra Bean Goose, White Fronted Goose and 1000's of Pinkfeet and Brent Geese.

LATE JANUARY

North Cumbria produced some good birds in the second half of January mainly along the coast.

Craig Shaw found a lovely first winter Iceland Gull in the harbour at Maryport on the 17/1/09 which remained until at least the 27/1/09 affording some excellent photo opportunities particularly on the river Ellen near the Wave Centre. A brief seawatch off Maryport on the 18/1/09 also saw 26 Red Throated Divers, a Little Gull and an Artic Skua.


The coast also produced an unseasonal Pomarine Skua chasing Kittiwakes on the 17/1/09 off Bowness-on-Solway. A Great Skua was also seen off Maryport on the 26/1/09 by John Miles.
A walk along Grune Point on the 23/1/09 was well rewarded with 2 unseasonal Little Stints and Short Eared Owl, Merlin, a lovely male Hen Harrier and the wintering Long Tailed Duck with 22 Scaup. Large numbers of both Barnacle Geese and Pinkfeet were also present roosting on the Marsh, as were 110 Whooper Swans which were presumably part of the huge herd of Whooper Swans gathered on Silloth Airfield reaching at least 310 on the 21/1/09.

An adult Med Gull also frequented Flimby Rugby pitch, still present on the 28/1/09 and up to 30 Purple Sandpipers roosted at high tides on Workington Pier. 2 more Med Gulls were found at Siddick Pond, Workington. A Little Egret was reported from Drumburgh Marsh on the 20/1/09.

Away from the coast the drake Smew continued to winter on Tindale Tarn and 8 Bramblings were seen at Forest Head in a poor year locally for the species.

Early January

The start of the New Year 2009

Very few birds reported in North Cumbria in the first two weeks of January, presumably a reflection of the change from cold and frost to windy and wet.
The only Waxwings were 28 reported from Cockermouth on the 8/1/09.
A Great Gey Shrike was found on the 4/1/09 at Chamot hill near Penton right up in the north of the County.
On the Solway there were 2 groups of Twite I saw 11 at Port Carlisle on New Year day with Greenshank also there and 50 Twite were reported at Cardurnock on the 3/1/09. 200 Whooper Swans were still in a big herd at Newton Arlosh also on the 3/1/09.
North Plain pools were deserted as they froze early in the month but the thaw meant duck numbers had risen considerably by the 12/1/09 with 56 Pintail and good numbers of Shoveler, Teal and Widgeon, a Peregrine was also present. While a walk round Grune Point with a very high tide on the same day saw Long Tailed Duck with about 25 Scaup, 10 Grey Plover, Barn Owl and unusually 2 Whooper Swans on the sea.
Inland I was delighted to find a drake Smew on Talkin Tarn on the 4/1/09 though it was always fairly distant, it remained until 10/1/09 when it moved to nearby Tindale Tarn. 2 Scaup were also present on Talkin Tarn on the 7/1/09 but Goosander numbers dropped right off while the hard weather partially froze the tarn but had returned to 25 on the 9/1/09



The low water at the beginning of the month meant a Green Sandpiper was present at Carr Beds on the 1/1/09 and the 7/1/09 but the rising water as everything thawed meant it was not seen subsequently.

Late December

Late December

Hard weather made for a quiet Xmas period in North Cumbria and flu made it even quieter for me, though regular trips to Carr Beds my patch made up for it.

Very few Waxwings remained in the North of the County, with 19 in Brampton on the 22 and 23/12, 30 in Penrith on the 21/12, 2 in Wigton on the 24/12 and 5 in Bowness on Solway on the 27/12 were all that were reported.

A good bird for Cumbria, Red Kite was again reported over Rulehole at the Golden Fleece Pub on the shortest day while a pale Bellied Brent Goose was reported with thousands of Barnacle Geese on Burgh Marsh the same day.

Other notable birds reported were Long Tailed Duck again at Grune Point on the 31/12 with Merlin and a good count of 142 Black Tailed godwits also present. Both male and female Hen Harriers were reported at Campfield RSPB on the 29/12/08 and before the freeze I counted 58 Pintail from the hide there on the 22/12 and on the same day a Greenshank was still in Port Carlisle Harbour

An astonishing number of Whooper Swans were reported from the Wedhole Flow/Lessonhall area with 359 and 202 on Xmas day in 2 groups 3 miles apart and then 420 in one herd on the 27/12/08, these must surely be record counts for Cumbria.

From a personal point of view visiting Carr Beds every day from the 28-31/12 Carr Beds came up trumps with 3 Green Sandpipers present on the 28/12/08 and 1 present every day. Even better were 2 Otters fishing in the creek there on the 19/12 and 21/12 and Stoat carrying prey was an unusual sight on the 29/12/08. A Brambling was an unusual bird there on the 28/12/08. Kingfisher was also seen every day from the 28-31/12/08 and a record count of 14 Little Grebes on the 30/12/08. Whooper Swans were regularly seen in flight with 55 on the 28/12/08 and the injured bird remained present for its 4th year. Goldeneye peaked at 40 on the 28/12/08 and Goosander at 19 on the 31/12.

I havent taken any pics of birds to include this fortnight so I'll have to wish everyone a Happy New Year with a sunset from Bowness Viaduct on the 30/12/08.

Early December

Lots of Waxwings were still present early in the month though fewer were being reported by the middle of the month; a flock in Keswick until at least the 9/12/08 varied from 20-46, while in Penrith numbers reached 35+ on the 12/12/08 and 120 on the 3/12/08, several flocks were present in Carlisle with 95 on Currock road on the 5/12/08 and 29 on Boundary road the same morning.



Longtown also hosted a nice little group along the path to Arthuret ponds with 39 present on the morning of 8/12/08 and Dalston still had up to 30 birds on the 07/12/08 and had had 60 birds earlier in the week. Numerous other small flocks were reported in the North of the County including 16 at Tarraby, 15 near Rockliffe, c12 Cavendish Terrace, Carlisle, 50 over morton, Carlisle and 4 Houghton. I managed to photograph one of the longtown birds with a coloured ring on it which turned out to have been a female ringed in Aberdeen in early November. David Higson also photographed a different colour ringed bird in Dalston, this to turned out to have been ringed in Aberdeen in early november



Not many other birds were reported this fortnight apart from Waxwings, exceptions were a Long Tailed Duck at Grune Point on 3/12/08 and in Silloth Docks on the 14/12/08, presumably the same bird. A Little Gull was also reported from Silloth on the 13/12/08.

A stunning male Hen Harrier hunted fields opposite Newton Arlosh house on the 15/12/08 and a Little Egret was on the saltmarsh at Raby Coates nearby on the same day, while the day before 2 Short Eared Owls hunted over border Marsh. Another male Hen Harrier was seen at Campfield RSPB on the 9/12/08 and 56 Pintail was an excellent count on the pools at the top of North Plain Lonnen on the 14/12/08.

The rarest birds reported in the region this fortnight were Ring Necked Ducks with 2 females reported, the wintering Bassenthwaite Lake bird on the 9/12/08 and another female flying up the river Eden at Grinsdale during a web count on the 14/12/08.

A wintering Bittern was again seen at Siddick Pond at dusk on the 2/12/08, with 2 seen on the 27/11/08, and the Twite flock at Port Carlisle remained steady at c35 on the 3/12/08, with a Greenshank and Little Egret present on the same day.

Another unusual bird for the north of the county was Green Woodpecker with one seen near Lessonhall on the 14/12/08.

26 Twite were at Old Sandsfield on the 8/12/08 with 67 Goldeneye on the river Eden there and on Talkin Tarn on the 9/12/08 40 Goosander was a good count for recent years. A Kingfisher at Talkin Tarn on 12/12/08 was also very unusual for the site.

Late November

Late November

The bird or birds of the latter half of November were without a doubt Waxwings. Good numbers appeared in the North of Cumbria with a count of 210 at Dalston the biggest flock. Flocks were also present at Penrith (100), Keswick (15), Carlisle(75 on West Walls, 90 on Fusehill Street), Warwick Bridge (50) and Wetheral (25). Unusually these flocks often seemed hard to catch up with and only the Dalston school site was anything like reliable though even there the birds could go missing at times.



Other than Waxwings the Ring Tailed Hen Harrier was still roosting at Campfield Marsh and a Short Eared Owl was also present on the 16/11/08, as were 19 black Tailed Godwits. Also at Campfield RSPB a cold looking Little Egret was reported on the 22/11/08.
Whooper Swan numbers continued to build reaching a max of 107 at Beaumont/Rockliffe. The Port Carlisle Twite flock was still present with c50 birds reported on the 22/11/08 and 31 on the 28/11/08.
A female Snow Bunting was also seen on Grune point on the 25/11/08 in almost exactly the same place as one was seen last winter. This years one was too flighty for photos so I've posted a picture of last years.