The day dawned bright and cold so I took a trip to Longlands Lake, just outside Cleator in West Cumbria. This is a local haunt and always good for a quick look, check for Otters and Kingfishers and then head home, all in 30 mins ! Today there were none of the above, but there was a lone Dipper on the river hunting in the morning light, I watched it for quarter of an hour before loosing it down river. Wandering back to the lake and the Little Grebes were active, the Mute Swans flying between different parts of the lake and a lone Whooper Swan in the far corner.
Heading back to Parkisde I was greeted by two Cormorants fishing on the pond, so I grabbed my camera and went out, but before I could take any I heard a Kigfisher calling only to see it swoop across the water, closely followed by a Magpie. They chased each other for a few minutes before the Kingfisher admitted defeat and headed off to a smaller pond quarter of a mile away. Not a bad morning so far, so as soon as breakfast was over we decided to go and see if the Otters were out on the river Esk.
The water of the river when we arrived was flat calm and the tide was out so we settled down and enjoyed the stillness of it all. A few Little Egrets were out on the mud flats feeding, a pair of Redshanks and a pair of Curlew were also out and about. Overhead we lost track of the amount of Cormorants heading out to see along with large numbers of Mallard and Teal as well as a few Canada Geese.
Sadly today we didnt see the Otters but despite that it was a good end to sunny if a little chilly Cumbria day.
