Autumn wader passage and returning Mediterranean Gulls on the Solway

 Black-tailed Godwits were back on the Solway today with 11 at Port Carlisle and a single on Wedholme Flow ... always distant, they were in the company of some fine looking breeding plumage Bar-tailed Godwits ...

... as a Little Egret put in an appearance with more visual effect ...

While at Wedholme Flow the breeding season was very much in evidence ... Meadow Pipits still feeding young ...

... and Redshanks alarming overhead ...

... a few juvenile Skylarks looked very attractive as they fed among the tufts of vegetation ...

... and as the tide fell, among the many thousands of Black-headed Gulls, a single adult Mediterranean Gull appeared ...

Some Waders and other species in the North Pennines recently ...

 With the changing season the North Pennines spring to life ... and monitoring raptors and waders there has occupied me in recent weeks ...

In these big landscapes raptors are very wary at this time of year ( sadly not wary enough in the case of two male Hen Harriers which 'disappeared' from active nests a little while ago, causing the nesting attempts to fail ).  Typical views are very much like that of this Peregrine, perched up on a vantage point ...

... some of the waders are rather easier and Golden Plovers have been present in good numbers at some locations ...

... a little less frequent were Dunlin but this one was acting out its 'Plovers page' role ...

... while others were displaying with that amazing, almost electronic sounding song ... a drawn out 'chreeeeettt' that seems to echo across the wild expanses ...

Occasionally there will be a bird that gives unexpectedly close views, against all expectation ... and so it was this morning with this Woodcock that posed long enough for me to grab my camera from the back seat of my car and rattle off a few shots ...

... back onto the higher ground and the views of birds there were once again distant as this male Merlin

perched up having just plucked a hapless Meadow Pipit ...

Winter to Spring ... Geltsdale bursts into life ... and a Northern Mockingbird ...

 A bird survey two days ago saw me in this Cumbrian landscape ... unsurprisingly it resulted in a single fly-over Meadow Pipit ...

... but today at Geltsdale the air was full of Cuckoo song ... as this bird flew by ...

... and Sedge Warblers sang from at least four locations near to Stagsike Meadow ...

... the commoner species were suddenly more visible with Meadow Pipits and Reed Buntings perching up prominently ...

... more summer migrants now with Wheatears increasingly abundant ...

... and some new arrivals like this Whinchat ...

... while Curlews circled ...

On the East coast what is believed to be the same Northern Mockingbird that remained in Devon for weeks at the start of the year made an extraordinary appearance in Newbiggin ... viewed from an industrial yard in the centre of the town it perched on various bushes, fences and rooftops of the nearby houses ...

Geltsdale ... sounds of the early morning today ...

 The amber moon was just setting at 4.45 this morning as I set off towards Simmerson Hill on my Ring Ouzel transect ... the first sound to break the silence of a frosty morning was Snipe ... 'chitting' away intermittently somewhere in the dark landscape with only the glimmer of an impending orangey dawn ...

... the sonogram shows louder and quieter sounds alternating  and a rather unexpected downturn in frequency, indistinguishable to the ear ...

... then heading up the rocky and boggy track with only memory of the route as a guide ... there came that familiar 'typewriter' chatter of alarming Ring Ouzel ...

... each note showing a wide frequency range typical of 'unmusical' sounds ... delivered in regular but slightly slowing tempo ...

... a Wheatear delivered its 'crackling verse' ... again unseen ...

... hardly any wonder that the song is described as ' hard to transcribe' ... such a complex mix of notes delivered in super-fast time ...

... there were Black Grouse seemingly all around and presumably at individual leks rather than a big communal gathering ... the early sounds were mainly the 'hissing' type ...

... the sonogram shows an amorphous structure with a fading and slightly upwardly inflected quality ...

... then came something rather more musical as Curlews got going with their lovely wild delivery ...

... this time more recognisable ... that fluty 'cour- lii' but with some interesting harmonics revealed at higher frequencies ... and finally a visible bird !  ... the sun now lighting up the surrounding hilltops ...

Spring unfolds on the Solway and North Pennines ...

 While some waders have been on territory for a few weeks ... many are still on the move ... at Hallbankgate a flock of around 200 Golden Plovers linger on short turf ...

... the Whimbrel passage was just starting a week ago with a single bird along with thirty Curlews on the Solway ...

... not far from here a few weeks ago a single partially leucistic Lapwing was something of a novelty ...

... and some new arrivals at Siddick Pond yesterday with a Little Ringed Plover ...

... and two Common Sandpipers ...

Chiffchaff, Willow Warblers and Blackcaps were all singing in the pleasant sunshine although none showed as well as this Wren ...

Sandwich Terns were fishing from a buoy well offshore at Workington ...

The North Pennines were springing into life with Stonechats back on territory up to 475m altitude while a Raven stood guard near the nest ...

... and some smart Wheatears working their way into the higher ground now ...

 

The Solway revisited ... winter meets spring ...

 In lovely spring sunshine today - once the morning mist had lifted Chiffchaffs were singing everywhere ...

Yet thousands of Barnacle and Pink-footed Geese were in the air ...

... landing for a time on the saltmarsh before little groups headed north across the water ...

... by Campfield Scrape some closer Pinkfeet grazed ...

... while Shelducks and Wigeon occupied the pool ...

... a Little Egret looked lovely in the hazy sun ...

Over the high tide in the calm conditions there was little movement into the estuary ... five Red-breasted Mergansers and six Pintail were about the best there was on offer ... two Wheatears gave more of a hint of spring and the ever present Tree Sparrows were prospecting the barns ...