March birding either side of the Border ...

At Houghton the large Pink-footed Goose flock continued to hold good numbers of Russian White-fronted Geese, scattered through the flock ...

And an invitation to visit the Caerlaverock WWT reserve was a nice opportunity to hear what plans were in store for the area.  It also was my first visit in several years.  On the Folly Pond a Great White and Little Egret stood side by side ... I'm pretty sure that neither species was present last time I was there ... how times change ...

... and a very showy Treecreeper was a tempting subject ...

... still in Scotland but this time another long overdue trip to Loch Ryan ... at The Wigg the wind and waves were punishing , making viewing tricky and photography impossible ... at Bishop Burn it was a completely different story and in the spring sunshine some Scaup showed their various age related plumage differences ... here an adult male and female on the left and two immature females to the right ...

... and a nice chance to have good views of a first winter male along with another adult female ...

... back in England and as the tide came in at Grune Point a flock of around 200 Knot flew in and settled on the exposed shore ...

... in the strangely murky light conditions the subtly beautiful birds still gave lovely views ...

 

More winter birding in North Cumbria ...

 Progress on Birds and Wildlife in Cumbria 2025 is rapid at present ... authors of the species accounts tell me that this is because the weather has been bad for birding ...

Not to be deterred by such things we ventured out yesterday to look for whatever migh be around ... the first port of call was Houghton where there have been congregations of geese, mainly Pinkfeet .. there were no geese ...

So on to Grune Point ... everything just looked to be shades of grey ... a scan of Skinburness Marsh turned up a first-winter female Merlin ... distantly, of course ...

... more visually appealing was a group of seven Red-breasted Mergansers displaying in the channel ...

Ringed Plovers were displaying and other waders included 26 Black-tailed Godwits, Bar-tailed Godwits, Knot and Dunlin ...

... way out in Moricambe Bay were around 200 Pintail, a very good count for the Solway ...

Back at Houghton and there were geese !  Around 4,000 Pinkfeet and 62 Russian White-fronted Geese ... some family parties included juveniles with their limited or lacking belly barring and dull pinkish bills without a white blaze ...

Some Winter Birding around the Solway ...

 With the National influx of Russian White-fronted Geese, Cumbria did not miss out on the action with better than average numbers of this form in a number of locations around the north of the county ...

A flock of several hundred Pink-footed Geese near Rickerby on the outskirts of Carlisle held eight or more recently ...

On Rockcliffe Marsh the geese numbers on the area visible from the public floodbank fluctuate with good numbers of Pinkfeet and Barnacle Geese on some days while at other times birds are present only at very long range ...

There's constant coming and going ...

This area is favoured by Great White Egrets ...

... while Little Egrets tend to prefer the saltmarsh further out in the estuary ...

... a party of Whooper Swans was nearby and good to see to juveniles in the mix ...

Some Greylags in with the Pinkfoot flocks may have had good cridentials as migrants now that we have evidence of Icelandic birds frequenting the county in winter ...

... and scattered flocks of Fieldfares frequented the hedgerows and waterlogged fields ...

And finally I was pleased to find a female Smew on Talkin Tarn during my WeBS on 12th January, present just for that day and always in the middle of the tarn so hence the poor record shot ...

Norfolk in November ... almost a feeling of summer ...

 The expectation of  a range of species of geese was rather dashed by unseasonably mild weather ... Dark-bellied Brent Geese were present in good numbers ...

... and scattered over a range of saltmarshes and grasslands ...

... and frequently flying between ...

... rather unexpected was a flock of around 100 Barnacle geese on Holkham freshmarsh ... in view of the number involved these were likely feral birds ...

... Pink-footed Geese were present in huge numbers as they took to the skies inland over fields and at dawn and dusk moved in waves over the coastal marshes ...

While walking the East Bank at Cley two Shore Larks called repeatedly as they flew west high in the clear blue skies ...

At Titchwell an American Golden Plover was reported and thanks to the general enthusiasm about this bird it was easy to connect with ... despite being mainly asleep it was easy to identify ...

... other waders of interest included a breeding plumage Dunlin in rather dull murky conditions ...

... and Ruff are always nice to see in their various guises ...

... on the Eye Field a strangely marked Brent Goose was the only reward for a careful scan in search of something different ...

... at Pat's Pool Cley Marshes a Water Pipit showed well ...

... while nearby a very late Whinchat perched atop some Greater Reedmace ...

... on the sea off Holkham there were several Great Crested Grebes and a single Slavonian Grebe - designated as 'scarce' so good to find ...

... scanning across the North Pool at Cley three Glossy Ibis suddenly appeared ...

... only to disappear unseen equally mysteriously ...

A final visit to the hoped for gull roost on Pat's Pool resulted in no gulls but a single cattle Egret in the semi-dark ...

... and my only Mediterranean Gull was at Walberswick while on a futile search for Zitting Cisticolas ...

Scotland ... (again !) ...

 It seems that increasingly the small finch flocks in northern Scotland are composed of Linnets rather than all being Twite ... such was this flock near Gairloch ... Twite top left ...

... some nice flocks of passage waders with Oystercatcher, Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Sanderling and Dunlin in the mix ...

... an adult Sanderling showing remnants of breeding plumage while many winter type scapulars were present ...

... a juvenile Stonechat ... showy as always ...

... on the ridge to the south of Loch Broom a Raven called, prompting a scan of the skies and a distant Golden Eagle winged its way by ...

... at the river mouth at Ullapool a large gull flock loafed on a shingle bank ...

... predominantly Kittiwakes but Herring Gulls, Common Gulls and Black-headed Gulls too ...

... a small group of Arctic Terns fished off Achnahaird ...

... a Red-throated Diver still in breeding plumage dropped into the bay ...

... while Shags occupied a rock offshore ...

... and half a dozen Gannets put on a spectacular display ...

... with wings closed just before impact ...

... at Elphin a sizable flock of Rock Doves circled ...

... and perched on wires ...

... showing the dark orbital ring (cf pale in Feral Pigeon)

... steep forehead (cf sloping in Feral Pigeon) and small cere (cf large) and slim bill (cf broad)