Urswick Tarn Association
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Newsletter - October 2008 to April 2009

Fisherman
A visiting fisherman enjoys a day's relaxation besides Urswick Tarn.
 

In recent years, perhaps aided by global warming, the Little Egret has colonized much of the country and with its northward expansion continuing it was only a matter of time before this small white ‘heron’ appeared in the Parish.  Sure enough during late October two Little Egrets were reported on the shore at Bardsea, a first for the Parish. 
Cattle egret
 Cattle egret in flight over feeding area
On November 13th at 7.50 am a small white Egret was seen in the field east of Longrigg Service Station, surely the long awaited Little Egret?  Wrong!  While the Little Egret appears to prefer tidal creeks and marshes, this one was actively feeding among and under grazing cattle, highly suggestive of Cattle Egret.  A local bird watcher, Mr. D. Jewel, was asked to check and see if my eyes had deceived me, this he duly did, confirming the bird was indeed a Cattle Egret – perhaps only the third ever seen in Cumbria.  After staying in the same field all day, the Egret flew off as dusk approached.  The logical roost site was thought to be bushes beside or over water, so a search was conducted around Urswick Tarn.  Sure enough, with the light almost gone, one young man located either a white carrier bag or a "hunched up" Egret in the bushes near Clerk’s Beck.  Happily I was able to confirm that the "carrier bag" had in fact stretched its wings, a first Cattle Egret sighting for the young man and a first for the tarn.
The next day the Egret was back in the same field and as its presence had been put on a bird watching web site a good many telescopes and cameras were trained upon it.  The bird then seemed to disappear for a while before it was reported in a different field on Nov 17th.  As far as we are aware that was the last time it was seen.
How long had the bird been here?  One villager, Mr. S. Swarbrick, claimed he had seen the Egret feeding among horses in the Brow fields the weekend prior to its "official" discovery.  I passed this claim on, but it was greeted with scepticism by local experts who considered that particular sighting was more likely to have been a Seagull.  Whilst it would be fair to say that Stuart would make no claim to being a bird watcher, it would be equally fair to say that he is capable of recognising a Seagull if he saw one.  In the event, another villager, Mrs. C. Waddington, provided even better evidence for the Egret’s presence in the area during that weekend, reporting a small white "Heron" riding on a bulls back in the same field on the Friday, the earliest sighting we are aware of.
With the weather getting colder as the New Year approached, and with ice on some of the shallow water, the chances of the Little Egret making it to the tarn in 2009 seemed less every day, but with wild life one never knows.  A visit to the tarn Dec 27th produced very little in the way of birdlife and was about to be abandoned when a Crow began to "dive bomb" something in the ditch below the church and out flew a Little Egret.  After landing briefly in the field, the Egret flew off in the direction of Aldingham, a sighting of a few minutes, thanks to a crow, but still another first for the tarn.
On January 9th 7 Shoveller ducks (5 male) on the tarn was one of the biggest groups ever seen here.  On the same day a Green Sandpiper appeared beside the beck with a Chiffchaff feeding in the bushes beside it.  Both were a long way north of their usual African watering sites. 
On Jan 30th 21 "Common" Snipe and one much smaller and scarcer Jack Snipe were flushed from Postlethwaite’s meadow, where Oyster Catcher had slowly built up to a grand total of 228, far more than have ever been seen here before.
The highest Coot count for the period was 45 virtually throughout January.  In the current nesting season, up to 6 Coot nests have been located with one clutch of unknown size having hatched and one of 7 eggs listed as "missing".
On February 15th at least 5 Gadwall were in the local area with one pair on the tarn.
A visit to the tarn on the evening of March 30th, just in case something had "turned up", proved fruitless but an angler reported an Osprey had been seen earlier in the day.  Although this claim appears to have been greeted with scepticism by some, the timing was right.  Bassenthwaite's Ospreys appear around the same time and they have appeared here on autumn migration.  So spring records are presumably to be expected.
On April 1st a Green Sandpiper "turned up", perhaps the January bird, or perhaps a genuine migrant.
Mating swans
21 March 2009 Mating swans
Pen post-mating
21 March 2009 Pen immediately after mating
A Mute Swan driven off the tarn by the resident Swans was found exhausted in Braithwaite Lane.  When caught its large plastic leg ring was found to have slipped down over its ankle effectively disabling its foot so it was cut off – the ring that is, not the foot! The swan, one of a brood of 9, was ringed 15/08/1998 at Glasson Dock, Lancaster. After a couple of days R and R it managed to escape and was last seen on the road at Hooks Lane.
By late February two pairs of Great Crested Grebes had returned to the tarn and more recently two nest platforms have been built.  At the time of writing, 5 Great Crested Grebes are on the tarn, so hopefully they will succeed in rearing young this year.
Mating toads
 19 March 2009 Mating toads
Toads were much in evidence during early March.  Although dozens were squashed on the roads around the tarn, many survived to breed in the shallows.
Otters have been the subject of some discussion after Carp in a garden pond disappeared.  If human "predators" are ruled out, which appears to be the case in this instance, then Otters would seem to be the only "suspect" remaining.  Hopefully an electric fence will avoid further casualties.
A dead Otter reported at Skeldon Moor in March proved to be another adult male and appeared to have died several weeks earlier.  Although the Otter was most likely to have been hit by a car, it was lying some 12 metres from the road but its state of decay made it impossible to be certain.
More recently a claimed sighting of two Otters in the centre of the Tarn at 8.30pm is unlikely but not impossible.  On a personal note, my first ever Otter sighting on the Tarn after a wait of some 50 years, was on April 30th when I watched an Otter chasing then eating a small fish in the edge of the reed beds.  After a few minutes it disappeared without so much as a ripple.
Despite an increase in Cormorants over the winter, the tarn still produces good catches for some of the fishermen, with one recently catching 1201b of Bream up to 61b in weight.  At least two more Sea Trout have been caught, one of approx 31b covered in sea lice, and what was said to have been a Brown Trout of some 41b was also caught.
Management work has continued.  The grass cut from the Hagg filled 14 "bulk" bags and was burnt on the November 5th bonfire, and further burning  “in situ" has cleared much of the matted grass areas.
The spraying of brambles on the Hagg appears to have been successful and brambles on the landing have been cut back.
A good deal of work has been carried out in the area of the old boathouse, with all the old Willow cleared out opening up a "new" view of the Tarn.  Again, many of the branches have been put in the Tarn.  In all 190 hrs of work has been carried out during the period.
Harry Stables
Urswick Tarn Association
12 May 2009