Winter has arrived in the North Pennines and most birds have left us in search of places with more reliable food sources. Tindale Tarn is holding good numbers of mallard and teal, with a few goldeneye, tufted duck and pochard hanging about. No smew yet. I have been seeing a number of woodcock, snipe and jack snipe in some of the wet flushes. Black grouse sightings are fairly frequent around the woodland trail and from the visitor car park.
The reserve and visitor centre will remain open over the holiday period, where we are hosting an exhibition of landscape paintings of Geltsdale by Alston Art Group.