The second Geltsdale bird race took place on Wednesday with three teams this year. This was part of the Christmas thank you to our volunteers and was followed by a 'Jacob's Feast' lunch at the reserve office. The teams of four, were made up of a mixture of staff and volunteers. They had two hours to see as many bird species as possible on the reserve, which considering the size of the site would only be covering a small proportion. One team took the green option of going on foot, which had the advantage of picking up a few species not seen by the other teams, such as dipper, goosander and canada goose that were hiding and required more careful inspection to find. The other two teams used vehicles and indulged in a bit of foul play by blocking a track with the vehicle at various times, which led to both teams missing out on seeing black grouse.
Although the weather forecast was awful, the rain held off till the end of the race, but the strong westerly wind made viewing difficult. Despite this the combined total of species seen was 45, higher than last years total. The winning team saw 38 species and there was a tie for second place for the other two team who each saw 31 species. Each team saw at least two species the others didn't. Highlights were, a pergrine, seen diving on a buzzard and on one of the streams, a grey wagtail (not that common in the uplands in winter). Good fun was had by all even those who took it very seriously.
All the best for Christmas and the New Year from the Geltsdale Team.