Saturday 27 April 2019

The Magic of Spring ... birds on the move ... birds singing ...

While the climate flips from winter to summer and back to winter the birds just keep doing their thing ...

In the sunshine of a few days ago three Pied Flycatchers were singing from the bare branches in Miltonrigg Wood ...



... two sang against each other in the area south of the railway ...



... and to the north a solitary bird sang near the old beech tree ... while a Nuthatch was less visible in its choice of song post ...



... there was less blue sky to be seen around the Solway a couple of days later but Whimbrel were around in nice little flocks ... seventeen flew past the viaduct as the tide rose ... and a similar number lingered around the pipe at Port Carlisle as the falling tide exposed the rocks ...



... always a nice species to see and often heard in advance of seeing the birds as they utter that characteristic seven note whistle that was described in the West Saxon script The Seafarer   ... 

...    And whimbrel's trills for the laughter of men ...

... and this from a poem written some time before A.D. 685 ...

The easterlies that seemed to have been blowing for weeks went against any skua movement into the Solway but a few Red-throated Divers in various states of plumage made it in ... and out of the estuary ...


... while some thirty-five Common Scoters and eight Greater Scaup drifted in distantly and out of photographic range on the tide ...


Around the Campfield area there was a mix of the seasons with Barnacle Geese flying over ...


... and a Willow Warbler singing away ...

.
... in Bowness N.R. a Chiffchaff had a particularly odd song ... going chiff-chaff chiff-chaff chiff-iff


... it sang that same variant over and over again ...




Thursday 18 April 2019

The Geltsdale uplands ... with Hen Harriers in mind ... the first three weeks ...

My first session two weeks ago saw winter biting back ... and above 300m it was birdless ... but the fells had a wonderfully wild feel ...



... and no sign of the neighbours ( one of two hardline grouse shooting estates that border the reserve ) over the fence ... they are not usually very visible unless there has been a harrier around , in which case the top of a 'keeper's head and a protruding shotgun barrel can often be seen ...


A week later and it was a different world ... the sun shone ... although the wind was still in winter mode ...



... the Merlins were active with the female perched on a post , awaiting the various attentions of the male ...


... the views always distant ...

... perhaps unsurprisingly , this year there is no funding for the additional Hen Harrier workers during the breeding season ... after all breeding productivity has resulted in only a single offspring since my first season twelve years ago ... that offspring had a short life that ended on a nearby grouse shooting estate in his first year ...


Then yesterday , another week on and my walk up from the valley was enlivened by five singing Willow Warblers ... then a little higher up a Ring Ouzel alarmed ... there were five feeding on the turf and then flying nervously into the birch trees ...




... flighty though these new arrivals were , it was a nice opportunity to watch the little group together before they disperse to various gills to breed ...





... then heading on and up ... the sound of calling Golden Plover wafted by ...

... this bird was keeping just behind the ridge ... but just broke the skyline ...


... then further on and a pair moved tentatively in a heather cut ...


... Red Grouse displayed all day , a single male Stonechat was a welcome sight ... and a single Swallow flew over me as it winged its way northward ...






Tuesday 2 April 2019

Spring Birds at Geltsdale and The Solway ...smart Black-tailed Godwits ... everything in song ... Mistle Thrush , Chiffchaff , Skylark ...

Tindale Tarn was looking wild and beautiful in the deceptive sunshine ...




... wild and beautiful was the song of a Mistle Thrush coming from a tall beech tree ...


... before flying across a clearing to another song post ...


... and that iconic image of the exuberant display flight of Lapwings played out above ...



Tree Sparrows were caching in on the feeding chances at Campfield ...


... and a Little Egret looking pristine as ever against the leaden Solway as it flew past Port Carlisle ...


... and all around the Solway were parties of Curlew ... so deceptive in the light of the true plight of this endangered species ...


... also just passing through was a very distant trio of Icelandic Black-tailed Godwits ... two of them in full breeding plumage ...



Grune Point hosted fewer birds than recently but three Red-breasted Mergansers lingered on the choppy water ...


... as a Great Black-backed Gull wheeled overhead , calling all the while ...


... but a more spring-like image was created by a pair of Pintail ...




A day later in another bout of sunshine up the Esk at Longtown a Reed Bunting was performing well ...


... a Kingfisher flashed by repeatedly and two female Goosanders flew upstream ...


... and more Curlews ! ... thirty dropped in briefly ...




At home the finches at the feeders included Siskins and Brambling ...