A bright sunny morning and a forecast of only 25% chance of rain and me with a free afternoon plans were laid for Fly Flatts to give it a good coat of looking at.
Unfortunately , as I harnessed Ollie up after dinner the sky turned dark grey , the wind lifted to near gale force W>5-6 and I was in the 25% bit of rain all afternoon with some torrential showers.
Not to be disheartened I arrived at Fly Flatts at 1415 hrs to showers and a near gale force W>6 gusting 7 with dark rolling clouds and wall to wall druggies.
A scan of the water produced nothing , as did the sky and moors so on to Leeshaw reservoir with hopes of saving the day which were quickly dashed on arrival.
The strong wind was blowing across the water sending white horses crashing up the dam wall and producing waves like the North sea. 3 Canada geese were riding it out along with a pair of Mallards with nothing else present.
A walk in both directions to check the fields expecting geese, Curlew and Oystercatcher gave me a few corvids and some large flocks of Starlings along with 46 Lapwing and that was it. I could have got the same list by the Raggalds without leaving Queensbury but thats birding, taking the downs with the ups although a few more ups would be nice.
BS
WEST YORKSHIRE BIRDING. BRIAN SUMNER. I am based at Queensbury and bird a patch within a 10 mile range of home incorporating 16 stretches of water, several plantations, a belt of woodland, stretches of river and canal and good areas of moorland. I specialize in upland birds, reservoir and sky watching. My local patch is Fly Flatts reservoir. Any reports can be sent by text or call to 07771 705024 or see profile for e mail address. All images on this blog are copyright.(2024).