Carlisle Waxwings ..and some other birds today.

A visit this morning to see the flock of about fifty Waxwings feeding on Rowan berries right next to the busy traffic on Currock Road -

In flight the red 'waxy' tips to the secondaries show up well on photos -

The insect-like calls penetrated the noise of traffic as they fed close to the busy road -

Waxwing ( Bohemian Waxwing ) is one of only three members of the genus in the world - and is undoubtedly the most attractive.

It breeds across northern Europe and Asia and has irruptive movements which bring it to Britain irregularly in winter.

Other birds today included 23 Whooper Swans near Walby and 332 Lapwings on the wet field that was once Walby Flash.

On the Geltsdale Reserve a single male Black Grouse perched in a hawthorn near Tortie Cottage and 'bubbled' quietly before flying off to Bruthwaite Forest.

On Talkin Tarn two female Goldeneye and two female Goosanders were present along with a single male Teal - a surprisingly scarce species there.

But the highlight of the day was the Waxwings !

Parliamentary Debate - Ban Driven Grouse Shooting

While we all knew that this long awaited debate would not involve a vote ( what ? a debate without a vote ?  that was a new one for me ) it was never-the -less a major milestone in the battle against raptor persecution and a fantastic achievement for Dr Mark Avery who instigated the petition.

Bizarrely, the debate considered two petitions but only one had over 100,000 signatures.  The pro Grouse shooting petition had only around 30,000 signatures but somehow got in on the act !

There were a number of shocking aspects to this debate -
- The biased introduction which was shamelessly pro-shooting.
- The arrogance and rudeness of the Tory pro-shooting MPs.
- The low number of MPs to speak for the petition to ban driven grouse shooting ( no Lib Dems ! ).

The Tory MPs dominated the early part of the debate with a bombastic tirade about how Grouse shooting protected the uplands - all doubtless prepared for them by the Grouse shooting 'industry'.
They very rudely and wrongly referred to Mark Avery as the 'perpetrator' of the petition and cast further aspersions on the 123,000 signatories of the petition as being somehow wrong in protesting by way of a Parliamentary Petition - a process of course created by Parliament itself !!


One telling exchange went like this -
Richard Arkless, SNP MP for Dumfries and Galloway. ( Law Degree ) -
"Since I was elected to this place, economics has been used to justify dropping bombs, supplying arms, withdrawing tax credits and now killing birds.  Does this place ever come down on the side of morality versus economics, or will it always be the case that if it makes a few quid, it is okay with the Tories ?"
Nigel Adams, Tory MP for Selby and Ainsty (No apparent qualifications. Voted against measures to combat climate change, voted to sell off state-owned forests ).
"I appreciate the hon.Gentlemans intervention, but it is probably one of the most nonsensical I have heard in this Chamber ..."


Caroline Lucas ( Green Party ) spoke well for the BDGS petition but was brief and soon left.

Rachael Maskell ( Labour MP ) spoke well for the opposition front bench but was insufficiently well versed in the whole matter to effectively challenge the misleading and incorrect assertions being dished out by the Grouse shooting lot.

Kerry McCarthy ( Labour MP and former shadow Defra minister ) also spoke passionately but was similarly limited in her detailed knowledge.

Stephen Timms ( Labour MP ) intervened with limited success but his question about Hen Harriers was somehow completely ignored.

Therese Coffey ( Defra ) gabbled her way through some closing remarks, clearly prepared earlier but inadequately practised to get through her words clearly.

And that was it !

Light relief after Monday's politics

The long awaited Parliamentary debate on Driven Grouse Shooting was a shocking and agonising affair - but more on that later.....

Today it was time to just go out and see some birds - in the sunshine !

Leighton Moss was full of birds.  Pintails were present in good numbers ( although not quite as many as there were on the Solway recently ).

Among the many Eurasian Wigeon was a very smart male American Wigeon.

And a female Marsh Harrier perched on the bank behind.

Two Cormorants intermittently preened frantically and roosted with tucked-in heads but eventually showed their gular angles to be almost 90 degrees - making them sinensis race.

Three individual Great White Egrets were present in different parts of the reserve.  This one showed distantly but still looking regal.

Another fed along with several Little Egrets.

And then posed nicely ..

Meanwhile a Water Rail briefly popped out of the reeds