RSPB Geltsdale

RSPB Geltsdale near Carlisle held such a variety of wildlife that I am already looking forward to a visit again next year.
On leaving the car I could see Hares running in the fields. As they had not seen me, I took some time just to observe from a distance.

Enjoying the early morning sunshine.

Meadow Pipits were plentiful and they were constantly hopping onto the dry stone walls. It felt like they were keeping me company as I went on my walk.

 From the viewing screen there was a lot of activity, with birds constantly flitting around the trees and shrubs. It was difficult to pin them down sometimes as to what they were.

 This Reed Bunting showed itself briefly through the branches.

This Sedge Warbler was busy feeding young and can be seen here with some grubs in it's bill.

The more distant and more common view of the Sedge Warbler.

Whinchat - RSPB Geltsdale

I stopped at RSPB Geltsdale on my way to the Farnes. It's somewhere I had been to before and I enjoyed my early morning walk here once again. A bird on my list to see this weekend was the Whinchat. They breed here, and in good numbers but I missed them last time, so I was determined have a proper look round this time.
I was enjoying myself so much, with lots going on that I'd forgotten about looking for these. So I was quite surprised when one popped up in front of me. The distinctive supercilium over the eye gave away Whinchat to me.
I think I spent a goof half an hour watching a pair here. They were busy collecting insects for some young not too far away. A great start to the day.

Female Whinchat

The male

These were both ringed. I contacted RSPB Geltsdale and they confirmed that they have an active ringing program on site. Hopefully they will be able to give me a little more information on these birds soon.

Stonechat

A few weeks ago I took a long weekend break to the Farne Islands (more about what I saw there in future posts). I planned my route up so that I could make several stops along the way to see various birds and to break the journey up. So rather than following the quickest route I took the scenic route. This involved driving up through the Lake District to Carlisle, and then East through Northumberland, almost following Hadrian's Wall.
One area that I stopped at looked very good for Stonechat, and I was quickly rewarded with a family of them.

The male keeping a close eye on me.

One of the juveniles, looking very healthy.

I do like these birds a lot. Really enjoy watching them.