Solway

Well another hard days slog around the Solway this time with Keith, stopping at a few spots such as Allonby and Silloth but very little except a calling Little Tern and 3 Sandwich Tern of the Silloth Prominade. Onto Grune Point and our second good bird of the day in the form of a Fly over Yellow Wagtail calling as it went. Grune was disappointing however with handfuls of waders Black-tailed Godwit, Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Redshank and Curlew. A distant flock or Ringed Plover and Dunlin where just to far away to check properly. 50 odd Black headed gulls roosting on the sand included a Second Summer Mediterranean Gull a target species for our day cos we always see Med Gulls where ever we go..The only other things of note were a few Willow Warblers.

4 Juvenile Northern Wheatears seemed to be on the move and showed well for a bit of practice photography.

The incoming tide was fast approaching so it was time to move on up to Port Carlisle but on arriving the heavens opened and i mean really opened so we missed the incoming tide. We check a Couple more spots whilst we awaited for the tide to drop, a Female Wheatear and a Tree Creeper were the best we could do and then at the Railings a small group of  Ringed Plover  and Dunlin again gave us a photo opportunity.

Notice the Difference in Bill length between Dunlins, different race i presume.
We continued onto North plain roadside pool where there were a really good selection of Waders. 4 Whimbrel, 60+ Bar-tailed Godwit, 5 Grey Plover, 10 Golden Plover, a few Knot, Curlew and a Couple of Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit. These were all roosting on the grass because of the high tide. On the Pool itself 5 Common Snipe and a few lapwings were about it. We saw the tide was dropping so headed back to Port Carlisle to check the waders on the falling tide, very disappointing really, not the numbers we had hoped for. 2 Whimbrel and a Black tailed Godwit were mixed in with the Dunlin, Golden Plover and Redshank, nothing rares or scare was evident, pile of crap! A nice Sparrowhawk did sit for us however.

We finished at Anthorn where there were more birds, double the amount anywhere else, mainly Gulls but also about 300 Dunlin and 80 Golden Plover, our best bird of the day came in the form of an Adult Curlew Sandpiper, at last!!!! That was it though, seven o'clock was approaching and it was time for home.
Ive probably missed something but if i have it was shite and probably worth forgetting ;-)

Cumbria

Once again Ive been out n about in Cumbria but there's still nothing to talk about. Allonby had a few waders and gulls but nothing out of the ordinary.
Today at Soddy gap 4 Raven, 50 Mallard, 50 Greylang Geese and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Local

Well this is getting really boring, there's not even anything to twitch. I have been plugging away with the local patch Soddy gap but its difficult there's just too much water. Low Meadows has water in it but no exposed mud and the cattle being in there just cause too much disturbance.....its driving me spare!!!!
A sunny day during the week only produced these Emerald Damselfly.



So Today (29th) i awoke early and headed straight to Port Carlisle. I got there and the tide was right up so i had to wait for the tide to drop before any birds moved from behind the island and into view. I notice a Curlew Sandpiper in flight a nice Adult just starting to moult. It landed on the deck so it was nice to get a better look. The sun was straight in my face however so record shot at best, seems to be the norm at the moment.

Other things in the Harbour were a Little Egret, a Common Crossbill flew over calling, 5 Common Sandpiper a summer plum Knot a Whimbrel and 200 Dunlin, oh and 2 Common Tern

Common Tern

Finished of at Workington for a very disappointing sea-watch with nothing special to tell you about. Stumpy was in the Car-park though.

Adult Med Gull

Black headed Gull



So another poor birding day really.

Shit hot Cumbria

Actually the title should just say Cumbria's shit but it was a bit warm..
So you can probably tell i had a tough day on the Solway birding from Allonby to Port Carlisle.

Highlights if that's what ya wanna call em were 2 Med gulls opposite the mast at Anthorn. 2nd Summer and an Adult. Adult green ringed but 1km away so couldn't read the ring, but my guess would be a returning bird. 

Adult med Gull green ring

2nd Summer Med Gull

Walked the wampool up river from Anthorn, NOWT!

Eventually got to the railings after checking lots of other areas to find 45 Summer plum Knot, 15 Summer Plum Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit and another Adult Med gull, it was always sat down asleep so never got to see its legs.Handful of Dunlin and Ringed plover.

Knot

Black-tailed Godwit

Adult med gull, centre asleep

Dunlin

Ringed Plover

Finished at Port for high tide, very few Redshank came into roost and went straight for the back of the island. 1 Bar-tailed Godwit was the pick of the bunch here.

Bar-tailed Godwit

Grey Heron

 I'm sorry to say it was the most appalling day for photos too, but for a blog these will have to do...

Workington Pier

Had a quick check at Low meadows which was flooded, it has the most water ive ever seen in-it. Of coarse no birds.....

I managed 2 and a half hours on the pier at Workington in strong Southerly winds today. The visibility was poor at best cleared occasionally but the southerly winds meant there wasn't much on the move.
I did pick up 3 female Eider (rare here), 12 Manxies, 15 Sandwich tern, 1 Fulmar, a handful of Gannets,Kittiwakes and Guillemots.
Also what I can only describe as a snout and tail of what looked like a Basking Shark, I no I don't believe me either, not sure what else it could have been????
Oh yeah not forgetting Stumpy the Med Gull in part moult, i think for its fifth year, Welcome back stumpy.

Eider

Greylag at Soddy

Cumbrian Update

Well ive been out birding Everyday and covering Soddy couple times a day including low meadows which up until yesterday had water innit, not now though, dried up, that didn't last long and still no waders through. So Cumbrias still crap, Nowt at Soddy and only Reed Warbler, Pintail and Wigeon at Siddick, no Med Gulls yet. Workington Quiet, Allonby has been quiet too 50 gulls but nothing unusual. Getting a bit despondent again and got a lot on next week but i hope to get out n about. Come on Birds!!!!!!!This is getting ridiculous.!.

Solway

I was being a bit Bone Idle this morning and had no get up and go but eventually i got up and went....Birding that is. Rach n I started at Allonby, we initially drove past but i decided we should go back and check the gulls gathering on the beach by the water outflow. Good job we did because the first bird i latched eyes on was a 3rd Summer Yellow Legged Gull, rare in Cumbria. The Rest of the Gulls were just Herring and Lesser Black backs. i took a couple of crappy record shots and left. Sorry the pics don't do it justice.

 We checked a few roadside fields that had large areas of mud and water but no proper birds anywhere. Anthorn again nothing of any note, so went to get something to eat.
After lunch we moved onto Port Carlisle, 150 Dunlin, 4 Sanderling, 200 Redshank, 30 Golden Plover, 2 Common Tern, and a single Whimbrel.

The rest of the coast was very quiet, i did check all the Black Headed Gulls but not a Med gull to be found. Still an Ok day.

Sodding Spoonbill at Soddy

The last few days has had me checking Soddy everyday, 4 Raven on-site the whole time and a Female Teal had me looking twice. A Male black-tailed Skimmer again. but otherwise very quiet, getting despondent again. THEN on the 10th July (Yesterday as i write) an amazing find for Keith this morning at 8am on Soddy gap pond...... Spoonbill one of the best birds for Soddy ever and i missed it doh!!!!!! He gave me the running commentary over the phone as it flew off so i didn't even get time to rush out the house. It must have roosted there last night.... Well gutted..... So checked siddick ponds and workington in-case it was still in the area but no joy. Pintail summering and Wigeon on siddick was the best i could do here........gutted.... Did i say that....
So i moved onto Parton where a massive group of Kittiwakes, Gannets and Gulls were feeding of shore, 23 Common Scoter on the water along with 12-15 Manxies. 4 Dunlin and a Ringed plover were on the beach but again that was it. Had lunch at Whitehaven with a friend (yes i do have 1 or 2 friends sort of ) and a walk around the harbour produced a nice Full Hooded Crow ...
Finished the day waiting in the pouring rain till dark for the Spoonbill at Soddy to NOT return to roost and nothing new in and was all very quiet...GUTTING!!!! oh i said that didnt I.
Still Well done to Keith for an amazing find..... grrrr ;-) not jealous MUCH ;-)

I saw a moth in the meadow so decided to id it my first for Soddy a Straw Dot... I no nothing about moths so its bound to be a first ;-).

Straw Dot Moth



Local Stuff 5th July

Well this was the first day in weeks it had been a nice day in Cumbria so i thought id better make the most of it by having the day out n about the local patch's. Started at Workington nothing on the sea although i didn't do a proper sea watch just sat with the bins. Walked along the beach checking the rocks, just a few Ringed Plover then up n over the hill, Skylarks, House Sparrow, Linnet, Redpoll and Siskin. As i turned to look back at the sea an Adult Med Gull flew along the shore towards Parton, first of the Season and quite early too.
I moved onto Siddick ponds, Reed Warbler was my first notable bird, showing well at times, along side Sedge Warbler, Bullfinch and Common Whitethroat. Chiffchaffs and Willow warblers were singing everywhere. I covered the whole west side but nothing of any real note except a Common Sandpiper and a Wigeon hidden in the reeds.
I finished off by covering Soddy Gap, again very quiet so i went through the Dragonflies and Damselflies. Common Blue and Blue-tailed Dams, and then a 4 Spot Chaser but surprise of the day was an Imm male Black-tailed Skimmer. Then on the way out a second this time an adult male.
I took the opportunity to take a couple of shots of the single Cygnet whilst the sun was out.

Black-tailed Skimmer

Black-tailed Skimmer

Mute Swan Cygnet

Proud Parents