Two volunteers, Chris Hind and Pete Howard helped out with the visible migration watch from the visitor centre at Stagsike Cottages on Sunday.
For three hours from dawn, we counted birds flying over. Most numerous was jackdaw with over 500 and least expected were five coal tits flying over open ground (with a goldcrest in tow). Redwings, fieldfares and meadow pipits were passing over in small numbers throughout the morning. Three species of geese were seen (greylag, pink-footed and canada) and five whooper swans were one of the highlights. From the watchpoint 17 black grouse were counted on the surrounding hills, nice to see so many and indication of the good breeding season this year. The two male scaup that have spent the last few days on Tindale Tarn could also been seen from the visitor centre.
The strong easterly winds over the last few days brought an arctic tern to Tindale Tarn on Friday (see photo below). This is the first arctic tern seen on the reserve for 30 years.