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Great weather over the last week has brought with it displaying lapwing, lekking black grouse, calling curlew, chipping snipe and singing skylarks. A young peregrine falcon this morning swooped past the visitor centre, sending all the waders skyward in a frenzy of alarm calling and mobbing. Along the...

Despite some brief spells of snow over the past week or so, and some incredibly blustery and biting winds, it’s actually beginning to feel much more spring-like in any sunshine that filters through to Geltsdale. Some of the birds seem to agree too, with a reed bunting singing with abandon today...

This last week has finally seen a good covering of snow here at Geltsdale, and some plummeting temperatures to boot. Our smew sadly fled the encroaching ice on the tarn on the 17 th . However, an even rarer duck, for here, has arrived, with a pair of gadwall taking up residence (the first since 2007...

Some good birds have turned up in the last few weeks. A couple of days before Christmas a bittern was seen in flight across Tindale Tarn - actually a first for the Reserve! Unfortunately this furtive and cryptic heron has not shown itself to any observers since. Also a very handsome drake smew turned...

Yesterday we ran a small-scale bird race here in the morning, with two teams of 5 (mixed staff and local volunteers) competing to see the most number of species before lunch. Both teams concentrated on the north of the Reserve, one group choosing to stay on foot, the other also making use of a Landrover...

We’re well into December now, and it’s been quite a while since my last blog. We’ve had a very mixed bag of weather, from long periods of squally rain to beautifully still, ice-spiked days. Today, because of deep-frozen slush, we wardens had to leave our vehicles at the top of the access...

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...

After our first few sharp frosts, it’s definitely looking much more autumnal here now. On the bird front, we’ve now had the first flush of fieldfares and redwings passing through the Reserve, and the first few goldeneye have recently appeared on the Tarn. Last week there was a notable westward...

It’s been another very wet and soggy couple of weeks here at Geltsdale, but at least it’s still fairly mild (with only one sharp frost). And we must be grateful that we did avoid the extreme flooding that they had to endure further East. Sightings of summer visitors continue around the Reserve...

Well, there’s been a distinct chill in the air this week, plus some very wet weather. Yet there are still a decent variety of summer visitors with us here in the North Pennines. A number of chiff chaff, wheatear, ring ouzel and blackcap have all been seen around the Geltsdale Reserve in the last...

Sunny weather this morning, good numbers of small birds out feeding, mainly seen from the woodland trail. Best bird was a whinchat, an adult male, that had been colour-ringed nearby in early June. It bred successfully and was seen with fledged juveniles in early July. I had assumed all our breeding whinchats...

With the extremely wet weather recently it seems that a number of whinchats have decided enough is enough and have started to head south. Birds that were on eggs during the worst of the weather managed to see it through and are busy feeding young. Kestrels have managed to fledge 32 young from 14 nests...

This week we have ringed chicks from two merlin nests, each nest occupying three chicks. 82 whinchat chicks have also been ringed! Torrential rain over the weekend came just as nests were full of hungry chicks and it appears many adult birds have struggled to find food. Stonechats, whinchats, spotted...

First grasshopper warblers have been heard today (23rd)! Lapwing, stonechat, grey wagtail and snipe nests have all been found over the last few days.

Rain at last! Recent sightings include short eared owls displaying, ring ouzels (first on 23rd) and wheatears(first 19th). Ravens with young, peregrines and merlins both on territory. Dippers and grey wagtails both on eggs. Stonechats singing around the visitor centre and lapwings beginning to sit...

Exciting ‘smews’ this week as two have been sighted on Tindale Tarn. First spotted on the 12 th Feb our sightings coincide nicely with a national influx of Smew. With the onset of cold weather the stunning pair will have migrated away from their breeding grounds in Finland or Russia. Hopefully...

Following the huge passage of geese a few weeks ago, small numbers of whooper swans have been calling at Tindale Tarn from time to time on passage from Iceland (11 this morning, 21/11). A group of four female common scoters, usually found on the coast spent a day on the tarn (15/11). A single black redstart...

A routine patrol to look for black grouse and check cattle proved to be a reserve highlight yesterday as a white-tailed sea eagle cruised low above my head in the direction of Tindale Tarn. Fifteen minutes later I located the bird again sitting on a fencepost being mobbed by a buzzard, which looked small...

Over 1000 barnacle geese and 165 pink-footed geese have passed through so far today (5pm, 7/10/11), on their descent towards the Solway. A few barnacle geese have landed on the tarn and in the fields, exhausted after travelling on the wing from Spitsbergen. It's been a fine day and a privilege to...

Recent notable sightings include more ospreys on passage, a kingfisher on Tindale Tarn and good numbers of pink feet geese passing above. A first for the reserve was on Tues 13th September when two gannets were spotted, with a sub-adult bird resting for a moment with the mute swans on the tarn. The birds...

Following a week of osprey activity at the tarn there have been no further sightings this week (15th-20th). A single black grouse was lekking most of yesterday (18th), and could be heard from the visitor centre. It was a young male with quite a bit of brown on his upper wings. I saw four ring ouzels...

The vast amount of rain last week caused a large landslip on the Woodland Trail, which is now temporarily closed. The good news is that a new island has naturally formed in front of the tarn viewing screen, and provided it stays put it should appeal to certain birds next breeding season. Recent wildlife...

An eventful couple of weeks weather-wise has left many nests being abandoned due to heavy rain and severe gales. We now have just two pairs of barn owls, both in the Gelt Valley. Short eared owls have faired better and adult birds are very active feeding their fledged young. Long eared owls have also...

More wheatear and ring ouzel sightings this week, right across the reserve now. Swallows and willow warblers have both returned over the last few days. A red kite drifted over the visitor centre yesterday (14th). Rough legged buzzard and long-eared owl have both been seen in the Gelt Valley today (15th...

Some of our upland migrants have started to arrive back, wheatear on 23rd and the first ring ouzel on the 28th. Numbers of these species will increase over the next few weeks and birds should be seen all across the reserve. Other spring migrants seen (or heard) so far include chiffchaff, also on 23rd...