Bird life at High SwinsideMany birds visit the feeders at High Swinside, alight on the walls and fences, or sing from the nearby bracken and heather. Buzzards and ravens soar over Swinside Fell, a heron comes regularly hoping to catch frogs in the pond, and of course you'll hear owls at night.
So as you sit or stroll in the area, watch and listen for:
tits of all sorts including long tailed tits, robins, chaffinches, pied wagtails, blackbirds, sparrows, and wrens aplenty; yellowhammer, siskin, & goldfinch, thrush, redpoll; greater spotted woodpecker, nuthatch & tree creeper; swallows, house martins, swifts, gold crest, redstart, spotted flycatcher, willow warbler, garden warbler, stonechat, whinchat, reed bunting, yellow wagtail, grey wagtail, lark, meadow pipit, tree pipit, wheatear, curlew, snipe, woodcock, fieldfare, redwing, ring ouzel, red grouse, heron, buzzard, raven, crow, jay, starling, kestrel, peregrine, sparrowhawk, tawny owl, barn owl - and more... A merlin and a long eared owl were even sighted in the area during lockdown.(This photo of a yellowhammer was taken by Andrew Locking)