Well, there’s been a distinct chill in the air this week, plus some very wet weather. Yet there are still a decent variety of summer visitors with us here in the North Pennines. A number of chiff chaff, wheatear, ring ouzel and blackcap have all been seen around the Geltsdale Reserve in the last week. There has also been a large movement of meadow pipits through the Reserve in recent days. Today we also had our latest record of a spotted flycatcher – a juvenile seen catching a leaf (perhaps mistaking it for a butterfly/moth??).
These summer migrants have overlapped with a good assortment of winter visitors. Numerous skeins of Pink-footed geese have been observed heading west towards the Solway, and on Tindale Tarn we’ve had our first (very early) whooper swans, plus groups of pochard, pintails, teal, wigeon, tufties and goosander. The Tarn even hosted a drake common scoter on the 7th of September – a very rare inland record for Cumbria. Today we also saw our first 4 bramblings of the winter season – in fact the earliest autumn record for the Reserve in recent times.
It’ll be very interesting to see what the next couple of weeks bring us – both in the way of weather and wildlife!