1st - 11th OCTOBER.
1st October.
After a misty start the day cleared to be fine and sunny.
LOGBOOK SIGHTINGS
Bill R. - Kestrel, Rooks, Long-tailed Tits, Heron, Hen Harrier.
N Rowe - In the fog, we heard lots of birds and saw some ducks and small birds on the wires.
2nd October.
Very misty. Did not clear until 4pm and then only partially. Not much activity on the Estuary except for Little Egret.
Little Egrets taken from the railings at Bowness by John Howard.
3rd October.
Another misty day but not as thick as yesterday. Intermittent sunshine with a cold easterly wind all day.
John Howard visited again from Hawick. saying, "I thought the weather might be better on the Solway than in Hawick this afternoon but it was freezing. Anyway, I stuck it out for a couple of hours on the seat by the railings (Bowness).
Lapwing from the stones . . . by John Howard.
At 3pm Urisa Reungsuwan reported having seen 85 Pinkfeet on the hide pool and a Little Egret on the marsh at Scargavel Point.
Judith, at 6.30pm in failing light, watched 10 Pinkfeet that were still present in front of the hide and on returning along the Lonning, heard a Tawny Owl hooting from the trees overlooking the Discovery Field.
Pinkfeet grazing the wetland beyond hide pool at dusk.
Visitor - 250 Pinkfooted Geese from the hide and 2 Kestrel.
R Downes - 100+ Pinkfeet flew over the hide. One Pink alone in the field by the pond. Great Spotted Woodpecker at dead tree in pond -field back of car park. 2 Heron in hide pond.
4th October
Mostly cloudy with some weak sunshine, but easterly drift to the clouds made for a cold day.
A female Bullfinch was seen in the hamlet.
6th October
Had rained now, on and off, for the last day or so - but had turned distinctly warmer. There was a SW drift to the clouds with virtually no wind at all.
At 3 .30 pm, a flock of 27 Pinkfeet came over and circled the wetland, before landing beyond the hide where they proceeded to graze quite happily.
Pinks circling . . .
. . . before landing on specially managed wetland area beyond the hide pool.
Always one or more keep a look-out whilst the others graze.
Small group grazing.
Watched 2 Buzzards flying about in the trees on the left-hand side of the flooded woodland.
Still Red Admirals and Black and Common Darters flying near the hide.
7th October.
Warm still but overcast with very little wind.
Watched Grey Squirrel's antics on 'Squirrel-proof' seed feeder - in the hamlet. The Squirrel had solved the problem by removing the lid and taking seed out directly, therefore not having to worry about the protective bars lower down.
Removal of a lid like this is not so hard when you have such nimble claws.
There we go!
All set for a good feeding session.
No problem with this homemade one!
On returning along the Lonning, was greeted by a flock of nine Long-tailed Tits making their way via the hedgerows towards the hide. Further down, watched a Buzzard dealing effectively with a bit of harassment from a couple of Crows.
Buzzard being watched by nearby Crow.
Harassment begins.
The tables are soon turned, though!
RDC - 10.45 am 10 Little Egret, small marsh pool east of Viaduct.
10.55 am 1 Little Egret , RSPB Saltmarsh Pool.
11.55 am 1 Male Marsh Harrier (? White wing tag - upper right wing), seen briefly from the hide flying over the marsh and mire.
8th October.
After a misty start the sun came out mid morning. Not a breathe of wind . . . a perfect Autumn day!
After lunch, a trip onto the Reserve happily located RDC's sighted male Marsh Harrier of yesterday, at 3.44pm. It was flying between the wood in front of the hide towards Rogersceugh, and was finally viewed from the Blue Route, flying out towards the estuary. Could see a white flash on its right wing as it disappeared behind the trees. Unfortunately got no better sighting than that. Too far away to get any good photos either.
Marsh Harrier - quartering the moss.
Marsh Harrier hunting still.
Marsh Harrier with white wing tag.
Record shot showing wing tags.
Walking back past Bushcraft Island noticed numerous Black Darters along the track. Some were attracted to the sunny surfaces of fence posts and the carved wooden eggs that had be placed there.
Male Black Darter basking on fence post along the Blue Route.
Black Darters soaking up the sunshine.
Returning to the road along the Saltmarsh, a Little Egret hunting in a creek, caught my eye - as did the Wagtail catching the late afternoon sunshine on the ridge of a roof in the hamlet.
Curlew and Crow intently watching something . . .
. . . which turned out to be a Little Egret hunting in a creek.
Unfortunately, phased by all this attention, it flew out onto the mudflats to keep them at a safe distance.
Wagtail (Pied or White - any suggestions?) on Hamlet roof.
LOGBOOK SIGHTINGS.
UR - 13.10, Male Hen Harrier over field near the old farm (Rogersceugh).
9th October.
At high water (10.52 am, 8.1 m) sun came out. The estuary was very still and as the tide started to ebb, hundreds of duck came in to feed: Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Pintail, Shelduck(45) and a Ruddy Shelduck.
A wonderful collection of duck, standing out like jewels on the ebb tide.
Waders (mostly Oystercatchers) and Gulls, also gathered.
Wigeon, Mallard, Teal, Pintail etc.
Chris Taylor, at 9.30am, recorded seeing a Juvenile Rough-legged Buzzard at Cardurnock, and later heading east towards Campfield. Also two Common Buzzards in the same area.
10th October.
A beautiful Autumn day: calm with hazy sunshine. At high water ( 11.34am, 8.5m), the bay east of the Viaduct was full of Birds: Mallard, Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, Pintail, Shelduck, Grey and Golden Plover, Oystercatchers and Gulls - all feeding voraciously as the tide swept in.
At 3.30 pm John had walked the Lonning. He noted a very warm coloured Kestrel coming out of the wood in front of the hide. Also 40 Pinkfeet were grazing the moist ground near the bed of phragmites, on the right-hand side of the wetland area.
11th October.
Another hazy day with some sunshine but this time there was a cold easterly wind.
At about 11am Marjorie, having been on duty in the Wetlands Centre, spotted a male Brambling on the feeding station there. Then at 3.40 pm, she and Neil spotted two males this time.
3pm. We observed a flock of Barnacles flying along the estuary in an easterly direction.
Barnacle flock escorted by resident Crow.
Nick Franklin recorded 70 Pintail offshore from the roadside scrape and also a male Brambling on the Centre feeders, on an off.
NYH & MH - 11.00 Male Brambling on feeders
15.40 Two Male Brambling on feeders
NYH - 16. 00 Male Hen Harrier from hide, also 19 Pinkfeet and a Snipe.
HRM - Male Hen Harrier, 4pm from the hide. 19 Pinkfeet and a Snipe.
Always a cheery sight at this time of the year.