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.