10th January - Ring-necked Duck etc

Happy New Year to one and all!

I had originally planned to start this Blog from the beginning of the year, but time has not allowed!

So far this year my birding activities have been pretty slow besides reccying (is that even a word?) for the Cumbria Bird Race.

However I did manage to spend a couple of days at Lowmill near Dalston looking at a couple of abientinus-type Chiffchaffs (short article about these coming onto my website soon). Lowmill is an excellent site with up to four Chiffchaff present along with Siskins, Lesser Redpolls, Goldecrests, Long-tailed Tits and a couple of Kingfishers amongst the commoner species!

The bird race was a success with our team ' The Northern Orioles' drawing 1st place with 'The Walney Wanderers', reaching a total of 107 species. Our highlights were Med' Gull, Little Gull and Great Northern Diver!

Since the bird race I have not managed to get out much, due to work commitments However due to and early start today I was able to scarper out to Grasmere Lake for an hour this afternoon to see the returning drake Ring-necked Duck. This was my 112th county year tick for 2007..............not that I am year listing this year...........well probably not anyway! I even managed a record shot of this bird, despite the poor light and strong winds!

Anyway I hope to have some more exciting updates to my Blog coming in the near future!