Winter Birding in Cumbria ... felltop and estuary ... wonderful wild places ...

 Dark mornings, wind, rain and fog can seem off putting ... but with the right mindset getting out there to some of the more extreme habitats can be a great experience ...

Searching for Snow Buntings does not necessarily bring quick rewards ... over the years I remember seeing them on a whole range of Lakeland tops ... but rarely in the same place consistently ...

Last week Great Dodd seemed benign as I approached from the east ... the summit ridge was a different story with the mist piling in on a brisk westerly and limiting visibility seriously ... a lone bird flew by and kept going ... no sign as I looked over the area where it had faded into ... 

Then three birds were suddenly there right in front of my lunch shelter ... photographic conditions were poor in thick mist and a vicious wind but against all odds I got some usable images ...

This first-winter male Plectrophenax nivalis insulae was a lovely looking bird ...

... then off away into the mist ...

The River Eden below Rockcliffe this morning was a different sort of wild place as I walked down the right bank in steady rain ... the juvenile Iceland Gull that had been present for a few days was swimming in the shallows along with a group of Mallards ... maybe not the most charismatic company to keep but then it walked up onto the shingle ... later it gave nice fly by views and fed on the top of the grassy bank ... 

A bird to brighten the most dismal of days !