Hodbarrow to Ravenglass

2 Slavonian Grebes on Hodbarrow was a real treat one in full summer and one in winter plumage, swimming together for comparison and 2 female Scaup , 7 greenshank , 30 Red breasted Merganser , 1 Barnacle Goose , 30 Pinks, a first summer Red Kite , Woodcock , Snipe , Blackcap , 14 Little Egrets an albino Red Deer at Foulshaw Moss...??

Whooper dooper Swans

At 9.15 I looked out the window .....excellent pinks on the move a nice V formation very low.Got the bins on them for a count and ...Whoopers 53 brill ...a quick call to Bri and Dave to alert them to the swans..Glad dave got them from his garden...Then a look to the east wooooooooooooooowwww at least 3/4oo I estimated..........another quick call to Dave...185 went about 100 feet above the house.. the rest in all directions which I was unable to count . All the dog walkers and gardeners stopped to view this spectacular event......

Med Gull

First bird on Monday morning  was a Med Gull an adult summer. a few raptors Perry, Merlin , kes ,Sprawk  and plenty of territorial Buzzards. 21 pale bellied Brents and 54 Dark bellids at Roa island.5 Hawfinch (two singing males),6 Red Throated divers and 500 + Eiders (display and calls).
  Northowram over the weekend included  3 Linnets (first this year locally) , 2 Skylark and calling Green Woodpecker at Northowram today.2 Skylark and a female sTONECHAT.

HAWFINCH

Having been to Whitbarrow / Halecat  on at least 7 occasions so far , I was very pleased to connect with 6 Hawfinch on Friday morning , I had 2 very brief and unrewarding views before but this was a real jem with 6 birds seen in the scope and 1 herd calling from another spot.. A fantastic bird rarely seen these days. Another sighting this week was a flock of 78 WHOOPER SWANS ,,,spring is on its way with Rooks rebuilding Rookeries ,my first singing yellowhammer and displaying Marsh Tits.

 

Eiland Gravel Pits

It was a cold and sunny day , 2 Cormorants overhead as I parked up. At least 6 Bullfinch and a Nuthatch around the car park.2 Little Grebes , 4 Goosander ,1  Male Goldeneye  and 7 Teal round the weir and   Green Woodpecker and Kingfisher around the Lagoons .           

Ravenglass

  Ravenglass is very beautiful and very good for wintering birds...Three small estuaries surround the small village and these hold good numbers of wintering birds. At least 40 Red breasted Mergansers were displaying in the large lagoon , along with a v formation of 47 Cormorant overhead.400 widgeon , 100 Teal, 3 Goosander , 4 Greenshank , good numbers of wintering Shelduck  Redshank ,Curlew, lapwing and Oystercatcher. Pink footed and Greylag geese are regular in the surrounding fields and overhead. Buzzard , Merlin , Kestrel ,Sparrowhawk and Peregrine are there for an easy meal. One Peregrine was watched for 4 hours sat in a field after consuming a Lapwing , it was later seen stooping at a large flock of Lapwing and narrowly missing a stray bird...Dunlin , Little Egret ,Skylark and the odd Stonechat as well.......

Back to Reality................

Walked from Fly Flatts to High Brow knoll and back...40 Red Grouse and 1 Kestrel.....

Foulshaw / Duddon Moss

 An excellent week started with 5 Brambling ,1 male Blackcap at Foulshaw Moss and a Barn owl roost here also. At Duddon on Tuesday 1500 Pinkfeet ,1 Juv European White fronted Goose  , 4 Canadas , 11 Barnacle geese, 200 Lapwing ,30 Eider (displaying),100 Shelduck , 4Goldeneye , 200+ Pintail , 1 Red Kite ,1 Green Sandpiper , 3000 Dunlin and a pair of Peregrines displaying over the Dunlins causing chaos..Amazing seeing the Dunlin and Peregrines in combat flight .Rounded of the week at Hale - cat where there were 5 Nuthatch , 3 Marsh Tit ,and the bird of the week a Hawfinch.

Cold

By - eck  it was cold this morning and birds hard to find.8 tree Sparrows and 9 goldfinch were in the back garden , 1 Meadow Pipit, 2 Wren,1 Dunnock , 3 Stock Dove, 2 Collard Dove  and a Grey Wag were in the fields and 9 Herring Gulls were heading west, 1 Goldcrest and 3 Mute Swans still at Shibden. Glad bri got the Tree Sparrows now fingers crossed for a Yellowhammer or Corn bunt in the spring...

Its ' Bean' a good week for Geese

Working in north Cumbria this week and there have been plenty of geese about ,Its common to see large skeins of geese across the sky heading in any direction. On Tuesday I eventually found a large flock on the ground totalling 512 birds.509 Pink 's 2 Barnacle and 1 Tundra Bean Goose a great find. Totals for the week were 4000, Pinks ,1 Bean ,20 Canada , 45 Barnacle , 10 Greylags and 12 Brents .
 Also this week  watched 3 Peregrines displaying around some Pylons there were 2 males and a female the first male was seen to drop something to the ground , and after some commotion we eventually found a dead Golden Plover with the back of its neck taken out..
  Along the hedgerows many Tree Sparrows , Yellowhammer , Reed Buntings, Redwings ,Fieldfare and Robins.

Duddon Moss

Not a good week to be on the Cumbrian coast with a stiff NW /W  9 blowing at ya most of the time , even so the snow capped peaks of the southern fells and the calls of pinks continually overhead make you feel very lucky to be  out in the elements,
   Very brief views of Red kite , Gos and Marsh harrier and the ever present Buzzard to keep me company. Large flocks of duck Male Pintail and male Eider together are breath taking. The numbers of Curlew , Redshank and Oystercatcher are also worth noting as when the wind blows from the west they all leave the estuaries and feed in the fields close to sea, its not uncommon to see 400 Curlew , 100 Redshanks and 200 Oycks in a large field foraging away out of the wind.
  Also sightings of Raven are becoming few and far between indicating breeding may well be at the incubating stage.??A few pairs of Stonechats have been seen this week on the moss's , also went looking for Hawfinch with no luck as yet.................................
 

Walney Island

This is the first time ive been to this  ' Cumbrian Spurn ' , the site of many rare and spectacular species over the years, but in Jan I didn't expect much. A cracking female Merlin was the first bird seen, showed very well for 20 mins or so. A flock of  100 + Twite and 40 Skylarks kept things interesting and a flock of 45 Barnacle Geese overhead was a surprise.
  A quick scan of a flock of flying waders was initially thought to be Knot but turned out to be 42 Grey Plover which landed just by the road side. Bar and Black tailed godwits with 100's of redshank , Knot , Lapwing Oystercatcher and Curlew. A quick look out to sea produced 2000 Eider , 500 Pintail ,500 Widgeon , 100 Teal , 50 Mallard a flock of 148 Brent geese ( all pale bellied) , 600 Shelduck  and a couple of great Crested Grebes........................beautiful winter birding so much colour..

Tree Sparrows

The Tree Sparrows seem very settled at the moment with lots of calling and feeding along the tall hedge next to the public footpath. Easily viewed from the track next to Hedge top Cricket pitch. There were 5 tree sparrows today and 5 Reed Bunting. Jay ,Bullfinch and greenfinch also today....

Jack Snipe

The bird of the day was a Jack Snipe flushed from the pools at the back of fly flats, Dipper , Tufted Duck , Great Spot ,Red grouse , Goldeneye and Goosander also today , 50 Pinkfeet very low over the house at dusk

New Year...........

No birding on the first but managed 42 species today, which aint bad,, Great Northern Diver , Tree Sparrows, Nuthatch ,Mute Swan ,Golden Plover , Lapwing and 5 thrushes..............

Ogden

Bitterly cold and windy, a long walk to the wind farm over the moor......the highlight was a pair of Raven displaying over the moor for about half an hour , 2 Mipits  , 8 red  Grouse , 3 Reed Buntings and a Kestrel was the sum total...At home 7 Reed Buntings and 2 tree Sparrows....

Local 2

Started off with 4  Tree , 3 Hedge and 15 House Sparrows in and around the garden..A cracking male Sparrowhawk had everything up in the air as it shot through and in to the field. A flock of passerines in the field were easily spooked. ...25 Mipits , 5 Reed Bunting , 1 Song Thrush and a Chaffinch.... that is good for here..little else in the next 45 mins but well chuffed...

Local.........................

Headed up Soil Hill in the hope of a Snow Bunting but alas 2 Carrion Crow and a Red Grouse were the only birds up there.
  11 Herald and 3 Peacock Butterflies in Bare Head Tunnel ,,,in the trailer Park field 1 Snipe, 1 Grey Heron and a Wren,,,,,3 tree Sparrows again today at Northowram...

A bit of luck

I have only found one species of micro moth in Cumbria so far  the  species was  on Hart's Tongue Fern and turned out to be ..BF 200... Psychoides filicivora... it is a first for VC 70(most of Cumbria,) and only the 7th record for Cumbria....

Shibden

A quick look today produced, 2 Grey Heron ,  4 Mute Swan, 20 Canadas , 1 Greylag and 6 each of moorhen and Coot

3 Sparrows

I remember as a lad in Brighouse, I often saw House , Tree and Hedge Sparrows in the back garden  and as I remember it was one of the first  problems with ID that I sorted out....today I was lucky to see all 3 again after a gap of some 40 years..15 House Sparrows , 4 Tree Sparrows and 2 Hedge Sparrows ...another red letter day.......

Roa Island ,

 In the eye of the storm on Wednesday, I managed to get to |Roa island causeway , half way across is a small car park I decided this was a good place .Gale force winds battered the headland, but with this were birds lots of them...Hundreds of Curlew and Oystercatcher headed in land, and at least 4000 Knot could be seen twisting and turning off  Walney island, small flocks of Widgeon 30, 40 and 50;s
flying past the car over the causeway and then inland. Next 145 Pale bellied Brent geese landed in the sea in front of the car , rapidly feeding in and around the seaweed, waders were covering the foreshore as the tide came in, 1 Grey Plover 100 + Turnstone, 300 +|Sanderling, 40 Golden Plover, 10 Lapwing , another flock flew in, at least 30 Ringed Plover  and 20 Dunlin joining the now masses of waders.
   More Curlew , Widgeon , 200 + Shelduck were seen to pass by  and 3 Bar tailed Godwit landed on the beach. Out at sea I could just make out some duck in the  masses of  crashing waves ....Eider.... yes masses of them a quick count was inexcess of 500 +...Redshank starting come through and more and more Curlew and Oystercatchers. I picked up 3 small passerines being blown towards the car, 2 were Skylarks and the other landed under the car........a large pipit for sure..I had seen on birdguides that a Water Pipit had been seen in this general area and after a  short time the pipit showed its self to be this species.4 little Egrets , 2 Ravens and a peregrine were seen briefly.
  At this point I started to head back along the coast road and noticed the fields were full of Curlew and Oystercatcher in one field alone I counted 400 curlew and 150 Oycks, A last look at the sea produced the birds of the day 2 Pomerine Skuas about 100m from the road at one point I thought they were going inland but headed north along the coast, the first one still had very tatty spoons. Winter   birding at its very best                            ...............Happy xmas EVERYONE
..

Maryport

Been in the Maryport / Carlisle area this week ,  its a large area of farmland with many fields left for stubble. A flock of 50 Skylark , 5 Yellowhammer , 2 Reed Buntings , 20 Chaffinch and the odd tree Sparrow was the pick of the farmland species. At least 5 different Med Gulls and the bird of the week was a winter plumage Ruff foraging with Starlings in a recently manured field. Small numbers of Pinkfeet and Whoopers also about.

South Cumbria

Been surveying in South Cumbria recently and its a beautiful part of the world , under watched by birdwatchers for sure..Highlights so far have been Snow Bunting , wintering Greenshank (7), Little Egrets are common and Great White Egrets have been seen twice. Large flocks of duck 500 + Pintail , 400 + widgeon and 100 + teal along with large flocks of Curlew (450 +) Oystercatcher (200+) Shelduck (150 + ) .Purple Sandpiper , Twite , Marsh Tit ,  Water Pipit and Rock Pipit have all been seen.
   Raptors are always in evidence Peregrine , Buzzard , Kestrel and Sparrowhawk are common/very common. Red Kite (4) , Goshawk(2) , Merlin (10) ,Hen (1) and Marsh harrier (3) have all been seen.

TREE SPARROWS

Woke up this morning went down stairs ...thick fog out the back window..3 small sparrows on the back garden step flew up ......looked pale...???? 2 minutes later 3 adult tree Sparrows on the back garden steps...I have looked high and low for tree sparrows in Northowram for 12 tears and then 3 in the back garden..amazing...Went outside and to my astonishment there were 5 adults and 3 juv/types in next doors tree. There were still there at 12 .15 but not seen since.??

Barrow Vis south cumbria

All heading North /North / East.
Redwing        783
Chaffinch        69
Tree Sparrow    29
Skylark              3
Linnet               45
Pied Wagtail       3
Snipe                  3
Pink Footed Goose  67
Curlew                      5
Meadow Pipit           1


A cracking adult Med Gull was found in a large flock of mixed gulls in a recently ploughed field

Duddon vis mig south Cumbria 7.30 - 10.30

All south


Swallow          39
House martin    1
Chaffinch         42
Mipit                34
Alba Wag         14
Pinks                88
Present ,Raven, Merlin (3), Peregrine , Buzzard, Kes , Sprawk ,100' Eider , curlew , Oycs and Redshank.

Morecambe Bay

A quick look this morning produced a flock of Oystercatcher which must have been at least 750 + thought they were pinkies when they came over the horizon. 50 + Brent geese,80 pinks , 400 + Eider , female Merlin , 200+ Shelduck , 100+Curlew , nice flock of 22 Ringed Plover, 10 Turnstone.220 Goldies and plenty of linnets and Goldfinch.Makes a real change to see so many birds.

Leighton Moss

A couple of hours at Leighton Moss today produced.......2 Great White Egret ( I thought 1 was good as it flew around the main lagoon but the sight of 2 was fantastic,15 Little egret ,1 Swallow , 8 Red brested Merganser , 2 Goosander , 5 Ruff , 650 + Black Tailed Godwit , 2 Little Stint , 2 Greenshank , 1 Knot , 10 Snipe , 15 Dunlin ,40 +Redshank ,2 Pintail , 30 Shovler , 60 + Widgeon , 10 Gadwall ,1 Marsh harrier ,Buzzard , Raven ,Peregrine ,Kes and Sprawk......

Fly flatts

A quick walk round fly.12 Teal all female types , 12 BHGull .165 Lapwing , 2 Snipe , 14 Mipits , 2 Pied Wags ,lots of Red Grouse calling from the moor , 3 Red legged Partridge , 2 Kestrel  and a Female Greenland type Wheatear...............the flock of Lapwing flew to TM at 11.10 another wader was with them but lost in the bright sunshine................