Lake View bird report for April 2010

We had been hoping that the Tawny Owl pair would settle down in my new nest box. However this doesn't seem to have happened. Both were roosting in our spruce trees until 9th April 2010; since then we have only seen one owl. Does this mean that the female is elsewhere? It has been suggested that the owls may not be breeding because they'd have a harsh winter with little food available while snow was covering the ground from December through to March.

Caz has been collecting Tawny Owl pellets from under our spruces since January and sending them off each month for analysis by the Mammal Society. During March 2010, these were the results:

Species	Number of prey items
Field vole	24
Bank vole	16
Wood mouse	2
Common shrew	8
Pygmy shrew	2
Water shrew	2
very large bird	1
amphibian species	2
Total:	57
No of pellets:	33

Pygmy shrew and Water shrew have appeared in the list for the first time. There are no water courses very close to us; the owls must have been ranging wider (down to the River Lowther?). Bird prey items are divided into 5 categories; a 'very large bird' might be a pheasant.

The linked table below shows the maximum count of each bird species seen primarily in our back garden near Bampton Cumbria in NY51 VC69 (and in our surrounding 1km square) in the period from November 2007 until April 2010, with a total count of 47 species.

Full Lake View Monthly Max Bird Count Seen table

Species	Apr-10
Blackbird	2
Blue tit	2
Brambling
Bullfinch
Buzzard
Carrion crow	1
Chaffinch	5
Coal tit	1
Collared dove
Curlew
Dunnock	2
Fieldfare	15
Goldcrest	2
Goldfinch	4
Great spotted woodpecker	2
Great tit	1
Greenfinch	4
Grey heron
Jackdaw	6
Jay
Kestrel	1
Lapwing	1
Linnet	1
Long-tailed tit
Magpie
Mistle thrush	1
Nuthatch
Pheasant	1
Pied wagtail
Redstart
Redwing
Reed bunting
Robin	1
Siskin
Skylark
Song thrush	1
Sparrowhawk	1
Spotted flycatcher
Starling	2
Stock dove	2
Swallow	5
Swift
Tawny owl	2
Willow warbler	1
Woodpigeon	1
Wren	1
Yellowhammer
Total: 47	26

Sea eagle seen at Haweswater

A sea eagle was seen near the Haweswater Golden Eagle at Riggindale yesterday Sunday 11th April 2010. RSPB volunteer warden Pete reports that it was definitely a White-tailed Eagle:

"No doubt whatsoever. Although before I got the scope on it I was hoping it was female golden. Massive wingspan, wings held outstretched, with golden eagle making size comparison easy, fan tail(though not obviously white), protuding head. As it split from golden eagle a raven mobbed it as it left valley over by Kidsty. A moment I do not think i will forget! Dave has said that there was a report of sea eagle [earlier] at Leighton Moss yesterday at 12.50am."

It now seems likely that this sea eagle is a young 2 year old from East Scotland which has been wandering far and had been seen previously near Newcastle, North Yorkshire and Hull. It doesn't have wing tags but is wearing a radio transmitter (not satellite tag). More info on the East Scotland Sea Eagles blog.

The previous day we saw the Golden Eagle being mobbed simultaneously by a Buzzard and a Peregrine during a 45 minute flight. Certainly an eventful weekend.

Lake View bird report for March 2010

March started off very cold - indeed our shaded front garden had been in permafrost since mid December, and it only thawed out in mid-March, enough to move the spike that holds a peanut feeder.

We saw a good number of bird species, 26, with the return of Curlews nearby and a Pied Wagtail. We were concerned that we'd lost our Wren as none had been seen all month (though one has been seen at the time of writing in April). The continued cold meant we saw a Jay again along with two male Reed Buntings. Nice to see a Goldcrest again. We have been keeping a daily eye on the pair of Tawny Owls that regularly roost in the spruce trees next to our house, noting which trees they roost in each day - still no sign of taking up residence in the Tawny Owl box that I've put up there. The only sign of nest building was from the Jackdaws in the old Barn Owl box.

The linked table below shows the maximum count of each bird species seen primarily in our back garden near Bampton Cumbria in NY51 VC69 (and in our surrounding 1km square) in the period from November 2007 until March 2010, with a total count of 46 species.

Full Lake View Monthly Max Bird Count Seen table

Species	Mar-10
Blackbird	6
Blue tit	4
Brambling
Bullfinch
Buzzard
Carrion crow
Chaffinch	8
Coal tit	1
Collared dove
Curlew	2
Dunnock	2
Fieldfare	20
Goldcrest	1
Goldfinch	3
Great spotted woodpecker	2
Great tit	2
Greenfinch	3
Grey heron
Jackdaw	6
Jay	1
Kestrel	1
Linnet
Long-tailed tit
Magpie	1
Mistle thrush	1
Nuthatch
Pheasant	1
Pied wagtail	1
Redstart
Redwing
Reed bunting	2
Robin	2
Siskin
Skylark
Song thrush	2
Sparrowhawk
Spotted flycatcher
Starling	40
Stock dove	2
Swallow
Swift
Tawny owl	2
Willow warbler
Woodpigeon	1
Wren
Yellowhammer
Total: 46	26