Some local(ish) Birding in the period leading up to the Shortest Day ...

Purple Sandpipers delighted as always on a stormy day on Workington Pier ... the birds sheltered near the base of the pier but still were vigilant for the big wave ...

... and nearby there was a first-winter Shag ... not too common in these parts ...

On the day that the General Election results emerged it seemed somehow a good idea to cross the border into Scotland ... and the Ken Dee Marshes felt remote, quiet ... and the sun shone beautifully on that lovely landscape ...

... that bizarre almost 'car alarm' style of call announced the presence of Red Kites ... and there they were ...

... Fieldfares piled out of the trees along the lane leaving just one watchful bird ...

... and an adult male Reed Bunting showed off its winter plumage ... striking but with more subtlety than its breeding plumage ...

... and then into the wet woodland with the potential for Willow Tits ... a sadly declining species ... but two birds gave wonderful views ...

... apart from the long established identification features that separate this species from Marsh Tit it was interesting to note the bill pattern - the absence of the pale spot at the base of the bill that is diagnostic for Marsh Tit was easily discerned ...

Then at Threave the high water levels created large areas of flooded marsh ...

... that were teeming with birds ...

Greenland White-fronted Geese fed among the vegetation ...

... and male Pintails performed excited displays to the single female ...

... and all the while the calls of some distant Pink-footed Geese came through the still air ...

Eastern Yellow Wagtail at Prestwick Carr Northumberland ...

The bird was immediately visible on the muddy ground of the flooded field in the early morning sunshine today ...

Initially distant it flew across to near the track ... but into a shady area ...

... the characteristic long hind-claw was surprisingly easy to discern as it picked its way across the mud ...

... and even closer as it fed seemingly unconcerned behind the hedge just a few meters away ...

... when a Pied Wagtail came close that bird looked so much larger and more robust than the Eastern Yellow Wagtail ...

... strikingly pale grey with just a hint of yellow near the vent and the alula ...

... as the sun gained a little height the colour tones showed better as the bird fed incessantly ...

... and eventually it called again ... a note with a distinctly rasping quality ...

Northumberland ... some very showy Waxwings ... a rather mobile Long-billed Dowitcher ...

A flock of twenty-odd Waxwings at North Shields in brilliant sunshine yesterday were a pure delight ... they flew into a birch ...

... and dropped lower to feed on rowan berries ...

... then in flight again as they circled around the park ...

... landing again in another birch ...

... and posing for wonderful views against the pristine blue sky ...

In the afternoon with the daylight already on the wane Cresswell Pool was packed with birds ... big flocks of Lapwing and lesser numbers of Golden Plover occupied the skies and dropped again to the pool ... a Long-tailed Duck dived incessantly taking only the briefest time to take in air ... several Scaup were among the Goldeneye and an adult Mediterranean Gull dropped onto the water for a short stay ... among the many Redshank a single Ruff fed along the margins and there also appeared the long-staying Long-billed Dowitcher ... never still for long, it flew across the pool ... ran among the other waders and fed energetically ...

... after a brief rest it was off again ...

... among the several hundred Pink-footed Geese in fields to the north at least one Eurasian White-fronted Goose almost blended in with the other geese in the brisk wind and rapidly failing light ...

More from The Borderlands' Moors and Marshes ... Crossbills ... Winter Waders and Geese ...

Late November has seen far too  many murky days but the Solway marshes suddenly spring into life as thousands of Barnacle Geese come onto some of the roadside goose fields like those at Whitrigg ...

... in recent years the flocks that often frequent the areas between here and Cardurnock have included three or more leucistic birds ... very often feeding close together ... and sometimes a little distance apart ...

... it makes me wonder how closely these individuals associate in the breeding season ...

Black-tailed Godwits are thinly spread in the environs of the Solway unlike the the large numbers frequenting the Morcambe Bay area ... but all the more pleasing to see here ... and it tempts closer scrutiny of these small groups ...

... these four birds roosting on the Folly Pond at Caerlaverock remained resolutely inactive but the two first-winter birds showed off their retained juvenile tertials with more markings than the adults' plain grey tertials.

The Border Forests that were once the Bewcastle Fells and Gilsland Moors so evocatively described by Ritson Graham in the middle decades of the twentieth century, still hold the promise of something special ... a promise that often remains undelivered ...
... Crossbills have been a bit scarce lately but some good looking cones are now visible ... and so more Crossbills ...

... the bill shape looking typical of Common Crossbill .... not particularly broad based neither being overly long ...

... and mobile as ever ...

Cumbria ... coast and uplands ... exotics to commonplace spectacles ... Long-billed Dowitcher ... Hen harrier ... winter waders ...

In the North Pennines a 1st winter male Hen Harrier gave a nice fly-by on a dull and showery afternoon ...

... flying very low over juncus it was clearly foraging for voles ...

... with Meadow Pipits now scarce in these habitats voles are the prime prey species ...

... and turning from time to time in its search for prey ...

Away from the uplands where birds are now scarce the coast has bird life in abundance ...

Wigeon are a frequent and vocal presence to brighten a winter's day at Port Carlisle ...

... while overhead Lapwings flushed by a Peregrine wheel around nervously ...

... but less conspicuously just along the road at the Campfield Scrape a Nearctic wader in the form of a Long-billed Dowitcher stood on the far shore ...

... spending most of its time roosting but with occasional brief activity ...

... and just a tad more active at times ...

... its three day presence seemed to coincide with the absence of an individual from Cresswell Pond in Northumberland  which it had frequented for a few weeks ...

Stejneger's Stonechat in Co. Durham ...

An Asian Stonechat was discovered at Jackie's Beach at Whitburn on 22nd October and thought to be a probable Siberian Stonechat Saxicola maurus ...

The following day opinion had shifted towards its being a probable Stejneger's Stonechat Saxicola stejnegeri and a faecal sample was taken ...

When I saw the bird the following day it was perching conveniently on brambles and dead seed-heads at the top of the beach ...

... it was quite active and flew between perches but remained still for preiods of time to give some nice views ...

... the general colour tone seemed to be mid-way between typical Atlantic Stonechat Saxicola rubicola hibernans and Siberian Stonechat and did not have that very pale frosty look of Siberian as it perched facing us ...

... what we wanted was some views of the bird facing away so as to show the tail and rump ...

... and then it flew a little closer and perched perfectly ...

... the rump was clearly visible now and was a deep rufous tone with some darker markings within ...

... the supercilium was rather dull and indistinct ...

... all of these features point to Stejneger's Stonechat ... a species that breeds further east than Siberian Stonechat ... its range extending right to the east coast of northern Asia ...

... this was a remarkably easy bird to study and so different from my experience of the Salthouse bird last autumn which showed for under a minute over a four hour period ...

... typically for Asian Stonechats, I never heard it call ...

It seems that Leonhard Stejneger after whom the species was named was a renowned 19th century Norwegian taxonomist who named a wide range of taxa including birds, reptiles and worms ... his name is commemorated in an equally large number of species.