After working near Whitehaven this morning I had a detour on the return journey to the car park at St Bees beach and managed about an hours seawatch. Manx Shearwaters were moving south at a steady rate, I counted 105 in 30mins. 1 Petrel flew determinedly south. 1 Black Guillemot also flew south. A few Common Scoters and auks flying past further out. Also quite a few terns, only able to positively id Sandwich but pretty sure Common and/or Arctic were present.
On the 21st of July after a 7 years wait I finally managed to visit St Bee's. I have wanted to go for 7 years but it was always side lined. It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive form Rossendale but my first stop was Foulshaw Moss. The Osprey showed distantly but because it was cloudy no reptiles, dragonflies or butterflies were basking on the boardwalk. Once at St Bee's we parked up at the car park and walked along the Coastal path northwards. There is a bit of an uphill walk and plenty of ups and downs. The RSPB Viewpoints were about 2 miles from the car park but it is a beautiful coastal walk. We met people from Sweden, Holland, France and two Chinese ladies who came specifically to do Coastal walks and then walk across to the east coast. The sun came out and a light breeze accompanied it. I felt at times were either in Dorset or another country as the scenery was outstanding. It was in complete contrast to our almost flat Lancashire coastline. The sky was blue and so was the sea.
We managed to see a juvenile Gannet, Shag, Guillemot, Razorbill, Fulmar, Kittiwake, Puffin, Raven, Peregrine, Kestrel, Buzzard and a Rock Pipit. In the scrub were Linnet, Stonechat and Whitethroat. Linnet and Whitethroat always remind me of the coast more so than Gulls because they appear to thrive in the coastal scrub around Britain. I tried my best to take a decent photograph of a flying Fulmar and Kittiwake but no luck. The Kittiwakes were looking beautiful with their blue-grey back and wings and then the tips of the wings dipped in black ink.
A couple of Small Copper butterflies were present, Meadow Brown, Tortoiseshell, Skippers and some Whites - most likely Green Veined.
On the way back decided to stop at Eskmeals Dunes Nature Reserve run by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust near Ravenglass. It was right next to a military type place and we had to notify soldier at a gate if we were going onto the reserve. In some areas Red Flags were up. Andrew a friend from Wigan who I was with said let's go back and ask at the gate. I did not feel comfortable and said "with my ethnic and religious background, sat in a car with a ruck sack driving to a military checkpoint is a scary situation". After all the events that had happened recently in Europe I could imagine people would be on high alert so off we drove to Meathop Moss not far from Foulshaw Moss and Meathop village.
Meathop Moss is a place you will not expect to be there and a hidden gem. From the lane that runs along the entrance you would not expect there to be an area which in total contrast to the man influenced so called beautiful green English countryside nearby. Here lay a symbol of the past and a secret of the few. Like Foulshaw Moss it is run by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust and a great place for the little things in life and reptiles. We could not stay long but managed to do a quick walk around.
-- Edited by Sarfraz Hayat on Thursday 4th of August 2016 10:31:36 PM
13 Yellowhammer 10 Linnet 2 Kestrel 100+ Guillemot (scoured the coastline but no sign of Black Guillemot) 3 Razorbill 20 Gannet Good numbers of Fulmar and Kittiwake 15 Skylark 10 Swallow Good numbers of Meadow Pipit
