Cumbria Naturally
  • Home
  • Blog
  • My Books
    • Cumbrian Contrasts
    • A Lakeland Experience >
      • Introduction
      • Derwent
      • Langdale
      • Ullswater
      • Kentdale
    • About Scout Scar
    • Atlantic Odyssey
  • Other Writing
    • What Larks!
    • Further - Explore Shetland
    • Autumn Migration
    • Rydal and Nab Scar
    • Perspectives
    • The River Kent
    • Wings
  • Gallery
  • Contact

Glasson Dock, the Lune Estuary and Lancashire Coastal Way

27/12/2016

0 Comments

 
PictureWhooper swans and mute swans at Caerlaverock, 8 November 2016
 The road wound beside the River Conder, through salt marsh and reed beds to Glasson Dock where we began our walk.  South, through fields with a large flock of wild swans- mute swans and whoopers.  Some half dozen whoopers took flight with that distinctive trumpeting call for which they’re named.  At Caerlaverock in early November the whoopers were newly arrived from Iceland.  They will stay on the marsh grasslands at Martin Mere and Caerlaverock  through winter, returning to Iceland in March.
.


Read More
0 Comments

Winter Solstice: Saint Lucy's Day

21/12/2016

0 Comments

 
PictureWinter Solstice 21 December 2010
It is the year’s midnight, and it is the day’s.  Not always.  St Lucy’s Day can be full of light, heavenly light, moonlight and stars and sunlight reflected off snow. I remember  a sublime winter solstice six years ago.
 I lay in bed, long after my hour, listening to a volley of hail on a skylight. Sky light. Not much light until noon when a wand of silver birch gleamed in sunlight and the clouds parted briefly. Befuddled by a heavy cold,  I feel a little more regal to hear that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have heavy colds too. 


Read More
0 Comments

Waxwing Acrobats

12/12/2016

0 Comments

 
PictureWaxwing feeding on rowan 11 December 2016
See the suppleness of the bird as the waxwing reaches down for rowan berries, balancing with its wings tips in an arc above its body.  Its brilliant yellow tail feathers show left of those raised wings. A claw grips the horizontal twig from which it hangs. At rest in the high trees they sit demure. Feeding, the birds morph into assorted shapes to reach the clusters of berries. It's a question of taste; do you like a composed image or an action shot that might turn your bird into something unrecognisable.  Here's a waxwing selection of acrobats and tumblers.


Read More
0 Comments

Waxwing Diaries

11/12/2016

0 Comments

 
PictureWaxwing feeding on rowan berries 11 December 2016
 Mapping the waxwing across Kendal, that's the focus.  I've  watched this exotic rowan to see if it would attract them. Almost home and it began to rain. I heard starling and glanced up at an alder. Not starling, but waxwing. As I settled in to watch, birds flew down to the rowan to feed. Look at the posture of the bird on the right, so supple and acrobatic compared with the blackbirds that fed beside them.  Despite the rain, their colours show.
To-day, I can show the red 'wax' for which the bird is named.


Read More
0 Comments

Waxwing: Abbot Hall, Kendal

8/12/2016

0 Comments

 
PictureWaxwing 8 December 2016
Today, waxwing are chattering in the tree tops about Abbot Hall. It's a gloomy and rainy morning, so the vibrant colours of their plumage do not show. Perhaps you can make out the pallor of the tail-tip, which is yellow. And  a hint of white below the eye. . The crest shows well, and the claws clutch a twig. I found only half a dozen birds this morning, and when the sky cleared to give a transient brilliance  the birds had gone. I hope for a coincidence of waxwings and better light. Monday 5 December saw a bright and frosty morning. How unlike this day a year ago when storm Desmond struck with such ferocity!


Read More
0 Comments

Waxwing in Kendal

6/12/2016

0 Comments

 
PictureWaxwing feeding on rowan berries 6 December 2016
 Waxwing: I could hear their constant chatter and I found them in the topmost branches of a tree so tall I was glad of binoculars.  I listened through the flow of the river, the town traffic.  Rowans heavy with berries grew either side of the road and volleys of waxwing flew over rooftops, and chose the rowan beside St George’s Church.  By early afternoon they had stripped the top of the tree of fruit and bare stalks showed where the waxwing had fed. A bright morning showed off their colours.



Read More
0 Comments

Windermere from Scout Scar

3/12/2016

0 Comments

 
PictureWindermere highlighted by mist, with the Langdale Pikes
From the Scout Scar escarpment, look west toward Windermere and the Lake District Fells.  Today, Windemere is made visible by white mist that lies over the lake. To the left of the image, the Coniston Fells, to the right the distinctive Langdale Pikes. There's fresh snow on the tops and bursts of sunlight gleam brilliant.  As we watch the mist over Windermere rises and begins to disperse.


Read More
0 Comments

Would You Believe It?

1/12/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
 Once upon a time one icy January day, we came upon something curious, something out of fairy story. It’s a tale so strange you may not believe me.  Once upon a time, in the last millennium, some quarter of a century ago, before the age of smart-phones and digital photography so there are no photographs. But I have witnesses- friends from Bristol Ornithological Club whom I met up with on a recent birding trip to Dumfries and Galloway. It took us time to puzzle out what we saw that day, to believe what we were seeing.



Read More
0 Comments
    Picture

    Author

    Jan Wiltshire is a nature writer living in Cumbria. She also explores islands and coast and the wildlife experience. (See Home and My Books)

    Archives

    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    November 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    April 2010
    January 2010
    November 2009
    January 2009
    January 2004

    Categories

    All
    A Local Patch
    Birdlife
    Butterflies And Moths
    Flowers
    Locations
    Views
    Walks
    Weather
    WIldlife

    RSS Feed

Website
Home
Blog
Gallery
Contact



​Cookie Policy
My Books
  • Intro - My books
  • ​Cumbrian Contrasts
  • A Lakeland Experience
  • About Scout Scar
  • Atlantic Odyssey
    ​
Other Writing
  • Intro - Other Writing
  • What Larks!
  • Further - Explore Shetland
  • Autumn Migration
  • Rydal and Nab Scar
  • Perspectives
  • The River Kent
  • Wings
Jan Wiltshire - Cumbria Naturally
© Jan Wiltshire 2022 All rights reserved
Website by Treble3