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.