Tranquillity, Light, Borders, Raptors and Ring-necked Duck

24^th Feb.  Sam and I decided to leave behind the fog and a probable busy coastline, we guessed Lindisfarne would be especially busy over half term so decided against a visit and instead headed west to the less inhabited and more rugged inlands of Northumberland, and as it turned out Cumbria too.  Our journey began in fog and it wasn’t until we were well along the A69 and the Tyne Valley that the sunlight began to break through.  We found a Peregrine Falcon flying into trees close to the road, a Kestrel, a flock of Whooper Swans flying north and the first of many Lapwings to be seen today.  We found ourselves in and out of fog as we proceeded along the Tyne Valley until we eventually found more permanent sunlight.  Once on the moors the light was bright, the air quite still and in sheltered areas warm.

We’d certainly left the crowds behind us and were able to enjoy the calls and songs of birds in peaceful surroundings.  Perhaps the most noticeable song was that from the numerous Skylarks, but other notable calling came from Red Grouse, Lapwings and Curlews.  The open moors and brilliant light gave a feeling of real freedom.  I was surprised at the large number of Lapwings mainly in two sizable flocks and the numbers of Red Grouse showing well at times.

We spent two periods on the high moors, the periods been split by some time spent on lower ground in search of the reported Ring-necked Duck.  We were unable to find it on the pond, but amongst numerous wildfowl we did find at least six Whooper Swans here.  A Kestrel was watched hunting nearby and Sam caught sight of a flock of distant Golden Plover.  Fieldfare were also seen.

On return to the moors it wasn’t long before we had a decent but quite brief sighting of a Hen Harrier (ringtail) hunting in very typical harrier habitat.  Merlin was also seen at some distance and I watched it swoop towards a crow and disappear behind the mounds, not to be seen again by me at any rate.  Our raptor count was doing well but we had been unable to sight the recently reported Rough Legged Buzzard or at least we can’t be sure.  A buzzard was seen briefly at great distance but it was possibly Common Buzzard.  We’ll never be certain.  We continued to enjoy the other bird life, especially the Lapwings, which when lifting with a flock of Starlings had put us onto the Merlin.  The sound of Skylark and Red Grouse continued to fill the clear air.  Well at least clear until the smoke from heather burning began to fill the air.  If we hadn’t seen the initial burning sites and been able to smell the smoke in the air we could have mistakenly believed there was haze in the air.  It didn’t spoil the atmosphere, but one must question what on earth this does to the environment!  One of the sightings of the day for me was a Raven seen well.  It flew off eastwards, but later Raven calls were heard.

Retracing our tracks we returned to lower ground and eventually crossed the border into Cumbria.  At the Hamlet of Tindale, we found Siskin in the trees.  Deciding not to walk from here to Tindale Tarn and having seen the sign ‘Bull in Field’ I can only express relief at that!  Instead we made off to Geltsdale RSPB Reserve.  On arrival we found the car-park full.  This surprised me as on previous visits there has never been anyone else about.  We ate our lunch and then set off for a walk towards the centre and Tindale Tarn.  At this point the light was still good so when Sam found the Ring-necked Duck on the tarn accompanied by four Pochard, even at great distance we had a fine sighting.  We were later told by a local birder, the only ‘real’ birder we came across on the reserve, that although present on the tarn off and on since January, the Ring-necked Duck is a first for Geltsdale reserve.  On the way along the path we managed much closer sightings and found a Peacock Butterfly, our first butterfly of 2019.  When we were at the reserve a few years ago we had also had our first sighting of a butterfly for the year, on that occasion a Small Tortoiseshell.  Other birds on the tarn included Goldeneye, Tufted Duck and Mute Swan.  On our return walk we walked with a couple who had been in the hills all day.  Having seen few people on the reserve I assumed most of the parked cars had held walkers rather than birders.  There were in fact few birds about but we intend to return later in the year and in any case we had our Ring-necked Duck on the list!  During our visit to the reserve I had enjoyed some moments of complete silence, a rare opportunity these days even in the countryside wilderness.

By now the light had changed again as clouds had almost filled the sky.  It was time to make our return home, but not before we had stopped at Grindon Lough back in Northumberland.  Even in the duller light we enjoyed our time in Hadrian’s Wall country and during our time at the lough the cloud cleared to give us wonderful, if a little weaker, lighting conditions.  The air was again filled with bird calls, this time in the main they were calls from Canada Geese, Wigeon and Curlews but just before leaving we heard the mewing call of Common Buzzard.  Again, there were numbers of Lapwing in the area and a Sparrowhawk had been seen on the way to the lough, giving us quite a list of raptors today (six species).  We also added Pink Footed Geese to our list a few seen both on the ground and in the air amongst the Greylag and Canada Geese.  It was still very mild when we left Grindon Lough having spoken to two birders whilst checking we had missed nothing of rarity.

Hard to believe it is still February, but I’m not complaining.  We had without doubt made a good decision to head inland and keep away from the busy coastline.  It had been a very special day in my two favourite counties of England.  Bird of the Day?  Well that title must go to the Ring-necked Duck, a very attractive bird indeed, but it did have some stiff competition!