Well, it’s November already! Since my last post we’ve endured a lot more of the wet stuff and one very brief flurry of snow – though who knows what this winter holds in store for us? Birdwise, we’ve had a number of parties of whooper swans (up to 11) around the Tarn, and the duck numbers continue to increase. A few nice flocks of lapwing (50-110) have been on the move, some pausing here for a brief respite. Blackgrouse(both cocks and hens) continue to show well around the visitor trails, with 6 females regularly sitting in hawthorns above the Visitor Centre. In the Gelt valley, there was a group of 3 late ring ouzels on 23rd October. Fieldfares and redwings have now arrived en masse, feeding on invertebrates in the pastures and on the few remaining berries. And good news on the owl front – the barn owl is now roosting in the attic of the Visitor Centre and can be watched via a live camera feed. This is the first time since the arctic winter of 2009-10 that a bird has actually occupied the roof box. Also, a long-eared owl was seen last week roosting in hawthorns in an area of the Reserve where they bred successfully in 2011.
There has been a quite lot of bat activity logged here recently. Recording equipment was set up overnight at two different old lime kilns, and we were astounded by the number bat sounds recorded. One of the sites produced a total of 4,900 files of bat noise! These turned out to be mostly Pipistrelles and Soprano pips, but also quite a bit of Myotis species calls (which, on further analysis, proved to be Natterer’s). Not bad for the end of October!
Anyone planning a visit to the area might be interested to know that Geltsdale Visitor Centre at Stagsike Cottages is currently hosting an exhibition of paintings by north Cumbrian Artist, Colin Henderson. Colin has exhibited with the National Exhibition of Wildlife Artists, and is showing paintings of British birdlife, together with a few African scenes. The exhibition is free, and runs until the end of November.