Tuesday, 21 October 2025

Dippers in Cumbria!

Wednesday 15th October 2025

River Derwent, Workington Cumbria


Thanks to Sara, I made my first visit to Cumbria since 2019. We travelled up by train on Monday, October 13th, and returned on Thursday, October 16th. The main focus was to meet up with family, but I did get the chance to walk by the River Derwent, my usual "hotspot" for Dippers.

Initially, it was just me and my sister Joan but we were joined later on by my other sister Marilyn.  

  • I spotted the first Dipper just north of Calva Bridge.  It was on the far side of the river and moving along the stony waters.
  • Further upriver, Joan spotted another..
  • When Marilyn joined us, we backtracked to Calva Bridge, where she soon picked out the Dipper and watched it fly under the bridge. We crossed the road and soon caught sight of it again.
  • We followed the river upstream on the Barepot side where Marilyn picked out another Dipper, our fourth sighting of the day.

It's been six years since I last saw this bird, so I was delighted with how things turned out!


2025 species count = 193

193  Dipper


Rye Harbour with the Ashdown Bird Group

 

Sunday 12th November 2025

Rye Harbour NNR

Ashdown Bird Group                                                                                                                            

(10 members present)

Trip Report

Today’s visit, targeting the Castle Water area, was arguably our longest walk of the 2025 programme.  Thankfully, the weather was ideal, being dry and calm throughout but, most importantly, with firm conditions underfoot.  Our reward was a glut of birds, including a few rather interesting ones.

As always, we started at the car park by the Martello Tower.  This time, however, we took the anti-clockwise route - going down to the industrial area before heading out to the Castle Water site and beyond, joining the central reserve at the Long Pits and Harbour Farm, finally finishing up at the cafĂ© in the Discovery Centre.

Route Map



 

Our first port of call was the Reedbed viewpoint, where we spotted several species.

  • This Kestrel was my early favourite.
Courtesy of Patrick Sullivan

  • Most of us saw a Sparrowhawk

Courtesy of Phil Aylen

  • Only a lucky few got glimpses of the Bearded Tits as they flew across the narrow channel in the reedbeds.
  • By the time we left, we had accumulated a sizeable species count of almost forty, albeit most of them were the usual suspects.

 

 

On to Castle Water and the Halpin hide, there was a greater variety of birds on show.

  • Two Great White Egrets caught our immediate attention at the edge of the vegetation and then flying around in the vicinity.
Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

  • There was also a Common Sandpiper showing well.
Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

 

 

 

  • These Lapwings were popular with our photographers.
Courtesy of Andrew Burns

  • There weren’t many Pochards around, so this one swimming with the Tufted Ducks and the Coot was a welcome sight.
Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

  • Look carefully and you will recognise a Black-tailed Godwit.
Courtesy of Phil Aylen

 

  • As we entered the central reserve by Long Pool and headed down to Harbour Farm, the highlight was seeing several Marsh Harriers, including this one.
Courtesy of Phil Aylen

 

Once on the central reserve, we headed for Denny Hide then Parkes Hide to pick up several interesting birds.

  • The Spoonbill caught our attention immediately, looking imperious in the distance.

Courtesy of Phil Aylen.

 

  • Several new waders were added to our list, including Grey Plover, Golden Plover, Oystercatcher, Dunlin, and Turnstone.

 

 

Along with the Dunlin was a smaller bird, which we looked at several times, hoping it was a Little Stint. After much discussion, we concluded it was just another Dunlin. Thankfully, Phil managed to get some images of the bird, and that evening, he studied the enlargements carefully and realised it was indeed a Little Stint. Seeking further confirmation, he posted the images on Birdforum, and the consensus of the replies agreed with his findings.

 

Courtesy of Phil Aylen

Courtesy of Phil Aylen

 

  • So we had a Little Stint after all.

 

 

 

  • This Redshank approached us as we sat in Parkes Hide, begging to be photographed.
Courtesy of Ian Hodgson


Courtesy of Martin Jeffree

 

Our final session was a short seawatch from a position above the hides we had just visited. Several gannets flew close to the shore, and for me, they provided the highlight of the day as they flew around just in front of us, regularly “dive-bombing” into the sea looking for fish. Patrick captured this brilliantly in the following sequence of images.

Courtesy of Patrick Sullivan

Courtesy of Patrick Sullivan

 

rtesy of Patrick Sullivan


Courtesy of Patrick Sullivan

Amazing!

 

The ABG is also about other aspects of nature and today we had another example of this when we came across this delightful fungus.

  • ·         The Shaggy Ink Cap or the Lawyers Wig in different stages of maturity.

Courtesy of Andrew Burns

 

Courtesy of Ian Hodgson

Courtesy of Phil Aylen

 

  • Our members -  in a different stage of maturity
Courtesy of ian Hodgson

 

 

                                          Thanks for another excellent outing Martin.

The Little Stint was a real bonus – boosting most members’ year list count and the show put on by the Gannets was superb!

 

 


  

 

 

Species List:

Name:

Count

Name:

Count

Bearded Tit

1

Linnet

40

Black-headed Gull

2

Little Egret

41

Black-tailed Godwit

3

Little Grebe

42

Blackbird

4

Little Stint

43

Blackcap

5

Long-tailed Tit

44

Blue Tit

6

Magpie

45

Brent Goose

7

Mallard

46

Buzzard

8

Marsh Harrier

47

Canada Goose

9

Meadow Pipit

48

Carrion Crow

10

Moorhen

49

Cetti's Warbler

11

Mute Swan

50

Chiffchaff

12

Oystercatcher

51

Collared Dove

13

Pheasant

52

Common Sandpiper

14

Pied Wagtail

53

Coot

15

Pintail

54

Cormorant

16

Pochard

55

Curlew

17

Raven

56

Dunlin

18

Redshank

57

Dunnock

19

Robin

58

Egyptian Goose

20

Rock Dove / Feral Pigeon

59

Gadwall

21

Rook

60

Gannet

22

Shelduck

61

Goldcrest

23

Shoveler

62

Golden Plover

24

Siskin

63

Goldfinch

25

Skylark

64

Great Black-backed Gull

26

Snipe

65

Great Crested Grebe

27

Sparrowhawk

66

Great Spotted Woodpecker

28

Spoonbill

67

Great White Egret

29

Starling

68

Green Woodpecker

30

Stock Dove

69

Grey Heron

31

Stonechat

70

Grey Plover

32

Swallow

71

Greylag Goose

33

Teal

72

Herring Gull

34

Tufted Duck

73

House Sparrow

35

Turnstone

74

Jackdaw

36

Water Rail

75

Jay

37

Wigeon

76

Kestrel

38

Woodpigeon

77

Lapwing

39

Wren

78

 Species count = 78



2025 species count = 192

192 Little Stint