Ogden Reservoir.

 

                                    Teal still present

                                    Very few gulls

                                    1 Goosander remaining

                                    1 female Tufted.

                                    Teal

                                Several Coal Tits on the feeders

A bright morning with full sun which slowly clouded over by mid morning on a light but cool SW>2 at 7 degrees.

     A poor count of around 50 mixed gulls this morning sticking to the east bank whilst the west bank remained bird-less.  The 6 Teal were still present along with 1 Goosander and 1 Tufted plus the Little Grebe and Cormorants but no sign of yesterdays Wigeon.

    Jays have been a bit of a rarity for me last year and this so 3 >NW over the promenade this morning was a nice surprise. A check of the west bank trees failed to find any returning Siskin, Redpoll or Bullfinch as yet but several Long Tailed Tits and at least 3 continental Blackbirds were present.

    Showing a foggy start to the morning then misty until midday with 50% chance of showers on a moderate SW starting off at a milder 14 degrees.

BS

A better morning at Ogden

 

                                            6 Teal present

                                    Teal on the distant far shore

                                    Single female Tufted

                                    Very distant Little Grebe , north end.

                                Ad Black Headed gull with Pink leg ring

                                    Too far to get a number.

                                Around 100 big gulls

A bright sunny morning at Ogden with full clear skies on a light W>2 at 9 degrees.

    A livelier morning with 6 Teal present along with 1 female Tufted, 2 female Goosander, 1 Little Grebe, 6 Cormorant and 1 female Wigeon. The Wigeon remained asleep in the NW corner below the banking throughout.

    Around 100 mixed gulls with an adult Black Headed sporting a pink ring to the right leg and metal ring to the left but with the distance and heat shimmer no number could be noted. If it was a true pink ring it will be from the Northern Ireland or the Netherlands project but red rings can fade to look pink. Hopefully I'll get another crack at it. A few continental Blackbirds have now arrived.

   A sunny start to the morning turning cloudy after midday but remaining dry on a light SW kicking off at 8 degrees.

BS

    

The Gas man cometh, Grounded.

 A non birding morning today due to gas boiler and fire servicing but not the best of mornings weather wise with a cold moderate SW>5 at 10 degrees and showers.

   The best I could muster this morning whilst dog walking over Foxhill was Common gulls up to 34 in Foxhill park along with 8 Black Headed and a few Mipits overhead <S.

   Birds I'll be expecting and watching for at Ogden this month are the first of the winter visitors with

 Fieldfare, Redwing, Siskin, Redpoll, Crossbill and Brambling, whilst Teal numbers should be on the rise on the water and joined by Shoveler, Wigeon, Pintail and Whooper Swan.

   On the gull scene I'll be living in hopes for Caspian, Mediterranean and more Yellow Legged Herrings.

        A bright, dry day for tomorrow with plenty sunshine on a light westerly starting off at 9 degrees.

BS

Poor start to October, Fly Flatts.

 

                                    Never get better conditions than this.

                                Floating jetty on dry land

                                    Acres of muddy shore

                                    Inlet from the lagoon.

                               Water usually up to the rocks in the foreground.

                                    Mist clouds above.

A morning of near full cloud with just a few breaks of blue. Mist clouds moved through overhead but not affecting horizontal vision. A moderate SW>4 at 10 degrees.

   A low expectancy attempt for a last minute wader at Fly Flatts soon went belly up with superb shore conditions but not a wader of any description, which was expected for this site in autumn. Spring is wader time at Fly Flatts but even that belly flopped this year with the best being Ruff and Whimbrel along with Little Ringed Plover which is a very rare species for this site. Ringed Plover failed to attempt to breed and left early whilst the best I could do for Dunlin was 8 for one day whereas I,ve had 40+ in previous years, the worst year on record for me for all species at Fly Flatts.

   This morning just turned up 80+ LBB gulls on the distant north shore, 4 Canada geese, 2 Goldfinch and a Reed Bunting as well as a trickle of Meadow Pipits overhead.

   Sunshine and showers forecast for tomorrow throughout the day on a moderate to strong SW.

BS

    

     

Another soaking at Ogden.

 

                                    Single Tufted

                                Little and Large, Mallard and Little Grebe.

                                    2 of 5 Cormorant

                                    West Bank

                                    East Bank

                                    The always hungry juv LBB.

 A very wet start to the morning with torrential rain and black as night followed by light rain and drizzle before drying up around 0915 hrs on a light SW>2 at 15 degrees and fog on the tops.

    A bit of a lull going on at Ogden today after a good few days birding with just a single Tufted on the water as well as the long staying Little Grebe and 5 Cormorant. 

    Around 200 gulls with a better count of Black Headed, upping the stakes on a Med gull, but nothing as yet. The Tit flock was still around passerine alley but the Goldfinches had moved through whilst the winter Chaffinch flock is up to around 30 birds at the moment waiting, for their favourite waterside weeds to ripen.

    A dry bright day for tomorrow with cloudy sunshine on a light SW at 10 degrees.

BS

A misty, wet Ogden

 

                                    Dark, misty and wet at Ogden.

                                    Dense fog above

                                    Fog rolling in by 1000 hrs.

                                Short of 100 gulls

                                Plenty Commons but only 2 Black Headed.

                                    Few Herring

                                    4 Teal remaining

                                    Usual female Goosander

                                

                                        2 Tufted present

A very dark wet morning at Ogden with a mix of rain and drizzle with full mist clouds and fog above on a light E>2 at 10 degrees. By 0945 hrs the fog started dropping then lights out by 1000 hrs as I was leaving.

    Nothing to get the adrenaline flowing this morning but still 4 Teal on the water along with Little Grebe, 2 Tufted and the long staying female Goosander. The Wigeon from yesterday had moved on with no continuation of yesterdays big move of this species.

    Gull numbers were down with less than 100 and surprisingly only 2 Black Headed present among the LBB and Commons along with 5 Herring.

     All the action this morning was along passerine alley with a Tit flock of Great, Blue, Coal and Long Tailed moving through the Willows along with at least 2 Siskin, whilst a flock of around 40 Goldfinch were flying over the tree tops.

  A wet cloudy morning forecast for tomorrow improving after midday on a light south turning south west at a warm 17 degrees.

BS