Wednesday 26 December 2018

Geltsdale on Boxing Day ... diverse ducks on the Tarn ... Long-tailed Tits in expanded range ...

As the early morning mist hung in the Tyne Gap a vocal flock of 70 Pink-footed Geese winged their way low over Hallbankgate as they headed eastwards ...

,,, then on Tindale Tarn duck numbers were looking good with some Wigeon swimming out of the reeds by the screen ...




... all now looking very smart ...

... and some of the Teal were close by also ...



A male Pochard lingered among the many Tufted Ducks ...


... and a male Goldeneye showed its eponymous eye well even in the indifferent winter light ...



Along the Howgill Beck towards Howgill a feeding flock of tits was in the Alders and Willows ... several Long-tailed Tits were scattered through this group ...




... presumed to be of the British race A.c.rosaceus they certainly showed a complete lateral crown-stripe and narrow white central crown-stripe ... the shade of the underparts seemed to vary significantly with attitude ... ( a search of images of the central / western race A.e.europaeus showed wide variation with some being remarkably similar to A.e.rosaceus ) ...






The Bird Atlas 2007-11 shows widespread gains in distribution since the previous 1981-84 survey ...


The map below shows the Winter Relative Abundance form the 2007-11 survey and highlights the concentration of the population in the SE of Britain ... the tetrad at Geltsdale is in an area of very low abundance ...




... viewed at Tetrad level this becomes more clear ...



This indication of a range expansion since the 2007-12 survey in Cumbria must show a welcome continuation of the good fortunes of this delightful bird in Britain ...














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