Bitter cold and windy. Fly Flatts.

 

                                    White Horses on the water

                                    Little Ringed Plover still present

                                    Usual Common Sandpipers

                                    as well as Redshanks

                                    and Dunlins

                                        1 of 4 Buzzard >NE

                                    Gulls getting more popular

Another bitter cold morning with what felt like the coldest morning of the year up there with a biting NW>5 gusting >6 at 3 degrees. Clear skies and sunshine but clouding over mid watch.

    Near enough the same as yesterday less the Ringed Plover which failed to show but more sky movement with 4 Buzzards up together drifting >NE as well as a steady flow of Herring and LBB gulls also >NE whilst Swifts and Swallows headed directly >N.

    Just a single Wheatear this morning along with 2 Red Legged Partridge plus the usual species.

A morning of cloudy sunshine with cloud thickening late morning with a chance of light showers on a moderate westerly starting off at a milder 6 degrees.

BS

Waders Galore, Fly Flatts

 

                                        A treat for Fly Flatts, Little Ringed Plover.

                                        Ringed Plover

                                    Common Sandpiper

                                    Dunlin

                                    Redshank

                                    Oystercatchers

                                    Swifts piling through >NE

                                    11 LBB gulls on the water

                                    Single Buzzard

                                    Mobbed by Lapwing and Curlew

                             The Lapwing landed of the Buzzards wing briefly.

Another wintery morning at Fly Flatts with an icy cold WNW>4 gusting 5 with white horses on the water. Around 60% cloud with periods of sunshine at 5 degrees.

    A real wader morning today with 9 wader species, the bonus being another, or the same, Little Ringed Plover, a bogey bird for this site in the past.

1 Little Ringed Plover

1 Ringed Plover

8 Redshank

2 Oystercatchers

1 Snipe

6 Common Sandpiper

4 Dunlin

Sev Curlew

Sev Lapwing

Just 2 Wheatear hanging on as well as 3 Stonechat plus 2 Reed Buntings. A group of 11 Lesser Black Backed gulls settled on the water whilst Swifts were piling through >NE continuously.

    A Buzzard flying through the wind turbines was heavily mobbed by Curlew and Lapwing and at one point the Lapwing dropped down onto the Buzzards wing for a split second, making feathers fly.

    A cold but pleasing, hectic watch.

A light to moderate NW for morning with plenty sunshine clouding by midday. A dry morning kicking off at a cool 4 degrees.

BS

Mid May washout.

 With torrential rain and a moderate to strong NW >5 gusting 6 with an added extra of hail and sleet it was abandon all hope of heading for the hills and settling for some very wet dog walks. 

     A walk through the fields to Old Guy road produced a single Wheatear, 2 Pied Wagtail, 1 Skylark and several Meadow Pipits plus lots of Linnets and Starlings. 

   Unfortunately these fields between Fleet Lane and Old Guy road have just been bought and plans passed for the building of just short of 300 houses. Another nail in the coffin.

    Showing dry for morning on a light NW at 8 degrees then sunshine and showers late morning on.

BS

    

Leeshaw Reservoir

 

                                    Poor for waders, 2 Oystercatchers

                                Good move of gulls  1 Black Headed

                                    Several LBB and Herring

                                    Bird of the morning, Red Kite.

                                    Mobbed by Raven and Crow.

A feeling of mid winter this morning at Leeshaw reservoir with a biting cold and moderate W>5 gusting 6 at 4 degrees with near full cloud and odd breaks of sunshine.

    A poor do on the wader scene with very little shore though enough to attract any wader activity but just down to 2 Oystercatchers plus the Curlews and Lapwings. Several Lapwing chicks showing of various stages of age, some now well grown but  a way off fledging yet.

    Plenty Stock Doves in the fields as well as Woodpigeons and Jackdaws along with the usual Greylag and Canada geese. The water held Mallards plus 2 Cormorant. A good gull morning with LBB and Herring gull moving through >W along with a single Black Headed.

   The highlight of the morning was undoubtably a Red Kite high over the water being mobbed by, firstly a Raven, and then a Crow before it drifted off >NE. A Cuckoo called briefly from up by the farm area.

   Tomorrows forecast not great with some cloudy sunshine and rain expected throughout the day, on a moderate west turning north west at 5 degrees.

BS