A real bleak start to the day up here on the tops with a fresh covering of overnight snow with 0 deg temperature and a biting NE>5 but at least its shifted the fog.
0800 hrs and a steady drive to Ogden on icy roads, the gritters will be out soon when the snow has gone and its a bit safer, although once out of the Bradford boundary into Calderdale the roads had been cleared.
I was hoping the track around the water would be well frozen but surprisingly it was just the usual muddy mess so I failed to get away with having to bath Ollie later, at least I,ve only one to do as Buddie is too old to walk far in bad weather and Pippas too young just to walk, she flys round like someone possessed so she,s not allowed on birding duty yet until she calms down a bit.
The water was disappointing with about a dozen small gulls, 2 Canadas and the usual Mallards but at least I had peace of mind that it had been checked.
Around the perimeter were the usual small passerines with 4 Goldcrest plus Tits, Blackbirds, Robins, Dunnocks and Wrens.
The feeders were alive with Blue, Great, and Coal Tits as well as Robins, Dunnocks and Chaffinch but no sign of Nuthatch today and weirdly still no Long Tailed Tits to be found.
A quiet but pleasant mornings birding and hopefully, looking at the forecast, this could be as bad as it gets for this year.
Bit of dinner now, hit the shops for Lynda this afternoon then geared up and out again for a tea time session, destination yet to be decided depending on the conditions.
BS