Back from Hols

Been away for 2 weeks in Sutherland - fab weather with great walking, kayaking, fishing and wildlife - highlights were a minke whale just 50 metres away from us and a brief glimpse of a pine martin! Pick of the birds was a Black Throated Diver and chick I found while fishing Loch Crogach and a singing male Snow Bunting on the top of Conival.
Bird news from Gunnerside is that spotted flycatchers and grey wags raised broods just 10 metres from the front door of the pub!! The house martins have rebuilt their nest on the front of our house and seem to be well on the way to raising a family. Yet more nesting is taking place in the garden, the rear nest box, having been vacated by blue tits is now the home of a family of house sparrows and dunnocks are nesting in our clematis. I think that now takes us to the following nesting species in our garden this year; house sparrow x 3 nests; jackdaw; blackbird; blue tit; swallow; house martin; and dunnock.

Snow in June!

This photo was taken 7pm last night outside the Kings Head pub - proper snow on 5th June, last time I saw that was 1976 and for 3 months after that the temp hardly fell below 75 degrees - lets hope it repeats itself!
First however the bad news, our house martin nest has fallen off the house. It seemed to coinside with some light rainfall so perhaps it just got wet and slipped off, I assume this is a fairly common occurence?? As yet they dont seem to be interested in rebuilding in the same place. The swallows however continue to thrive and we are expecting that some chicks may hatch pretty soon and the sparrows are still busy feeding their young in the nest box.
Went for a short walk up the gill this pm once the torrential rain had stopped and some sunshine had come out. The swallows, swifts and house martins were really busy feeding with light winds and loads of insects up and about. Up at Pot Ing there were several pairs of wheatear busy feeding chicks and as we headed down towards the river we picked up our first spotted flys of the year - always great to see them and we are really lucky here as we seem to get alot of them still. On our short stroll back to Gunnerside bridge we saw about 6/7 of them. Other birds picked up were, goldfinch, redpoll, song thrush, oyster catcher, lapwing, blackbird, blue tit, meadow pipit, mistle thrush, starling, blackheaded gull, great tit, robin, jackdaw, willow warbler. At the bridge we did a quick scan of the bushes and were delighted to pick up both grey wag and spotted fly and even happier to see that they were both nesting right next to the bridge, even allowing great views into the SF's nest itself - it will be interesting seeing how they both get on as last years SF's in this location were unsuccessful nesters.

Holiday time!

Had fabulous week up in Scotland last week. Mostly walking and fishing with a bit of birdwatching thrown in. Total bird count for the week was 101 including some scottish specialities, crested tit, breeding dotterel, scottish crossbill, black and red throated divers and of course osprey. Fishing was good too with good catches of pollock and brown trout - so we didn't go hungry!

News from Gunnerside is that we now have both swallows and house martins nesting in or on the house, taking our nesting birb species in garden this year to 6!!! I guess it will also mean that the out house and window will also get covered in droppings - still, on balance worth it I think.

Couldn't resist one fish photo, just to wind up my brothers!

Northumberland

Weekend away in Northumberland so no Gunnerside news. Some excellent walking and plenty of birdwatching on the coast. Over 90 different species seen over the weekend, including whimbrel, arctic, little, common and sandwich terns, swift, white wagtails and a good selection of waders moving into breeding plumage. Paid visit to Holy Island which was fascinating but birds proved elusive. Did manage to get some great shots of a swallow that was nesting in the hide overlooking the lake though.

Stang Forest and Scargill

We ventured over the dale and up to the Stang forest today. Did lovely walk through pine forest and then down wooded valley to Scargill and then back over the moor. Highlight of day was finding 3 pied flycatchers. Two were already paired up and investigating a nest box. With a little patience I was able to get some reasonable shots of the birds. There were also a couple of blackcaps and a marsh tit to be seen with plenty of willow warblers and chiff chaffs. Today we also heard our first cuckoo of the year but try as we might he remained hidden from sight. Coming back over Garnerthwaite pasture there were lots of curlew and lapwing and even the odd hatchling.

Four Ravens still here

The four ravens seen all winter are still very active and vocal around Gunnerside. seems late for them to still be here so I will watch with interest to see if they see the summer out here

Easter weekend

After a week away cross country skiing in Norway it was back to the milder clims of Gunnerside for Easter - but our bird list for the weekend still has a number of winter visiters. First good news was the reappearance of a pair of Redpolls on the birdfeeders, along with a couple of siskin. They must have been hungry because they haven't really moved from the birdtable all weekend!

On Friday, with Mum and Dad in tow we went over to Whaw, Arkengarthdale and walked up dale to Dalehead and back round, with the hope of seeing some Black Grouse. After a few anxious miles we eventually did see a pair hiding behind some trees but fortunately better views were had as we walked back near Shepherds Lodge. Other birds of note included 2 x Redshank, 2 x Snipe, 4/5 x Oystercatcher, a lone Wheatear and good numbers of nesting Lapwing. Also nice to see a flock of 100+ fieldfare plus one or two Redwing all looking very bright as though getting into breeding plumage. Rather incongruously, up above them flew a lone Swallow.
Sunday saw us head off up the Gunnerside Gilll in search of Ring Ouzel. The weather was absolutely beautiful despite an early morning frost. After having got Dad up on to Jingle Pot Edge path with the aid of oxygen we continued up past Botcher Gill gate and on to Ewe Leap Scar. The first Ouzel of the day were seen at Botcher Gill Gate and from then on it was an Ouzel fest!! Our full count for the day was 5 pairs including one in the middle of nest building. The Gill truely is a great place for these summer visiters but I am not sure we have had such a high count before. We were also quite surprised to still see the Ravens over wintering Scar. There were 4 flying around most of the day. I am assuming these will be juveniles and they will be moving on soon. An unusual sighting just below Potting was a lone bat out in the mid afternoon sun. The attached photo (awful quality) gives some idea of its features - we are guessing it was a Pipestrelle.
Monday was yet another glorious day, so we decided to take a look up on Low Row Pastures. The highlight of the morning was a pair of Redstarts on the edge of Little Rowleth Wood along with a good smattering of Willow Warbler. Again we saw 2 Ravens flying over head. Other birds seen on the walk were; calling Snipe, large numbers of Lapwing, 6 + pairs of Wheatear and a pair of Sparrowhawk. Also of interest on the walk were a Roe Deer and a cracking Violet Ground Beetle.
PM I took myself off for the first fly fishing session of the season and although I blanked as far as fish were concerned I did see the first pair of Sandpipers of the year at Rowleth Bottoms.
In addition to the Blackbird that is nesting in the coal shed we now have the following nesters in our garden; Sparrows in nest box and in Cotoneaster, Blue Tit in nest box and Jackdaw on roof. In addition something is building a nest in the open nest box we have in the back garden but is proving rather elusive to nail down!!