Ogden, very dark and wet.

 

                                Plenty gulls to check through today

                                    Long staying Little Grebe

                                    3 Teal present

                                    Usual Goosander

A very dark and wet morning at Ogden with full low cloud and mist with heavy drizzle throughout the watch on a moderate SW>3 at 9 degrees. 

    A good count of around 200 mixed gulls but nothing standing out as special after a good check through them. The water was much the same as yesterdays visit with no newcomers, just 3 Teal,            1 Goosander, 1 Little Grebe, 3 Cormorants and the usual Mallards. The water level is still dropping making it difficult to see around the waterline without looking across from the opposite side but the leaves are dropping from the trees nicely giving a few more vantage points of the water.

     Very little showing in the waterside trees other that the 4 common Tit species along with a single Nuthatch. Ive just read NKs blog for his afternoon visit and its an exact duplicate of mine😊.

    Although Ogden is rather quiet at the moment I'll be sticking it out there, as I usually do at this time of year, as it is a much better winter venue than Fly Flatts with chance of wildfowl as well as winter passerines. Other than that the weather is not usually a problem keeping below the cloud base and out of any strong winds with horizontal drizzle. Its also a necessary saving on petrol now at the high price that its at.

    Another foggy wet and misty day tomorrow with a few possible brighter periods after midday, on a light N turning NE at 10 degrees. At least the NE wind overnight tomorrow is the right direction to bring in some winter thrushes for Wednesday.

BS

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