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Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Doing the rounds, Upper Marsh, Leeshaw, Fly Flatts, Mixenden

 Upper Marsh Golden Plover flock building


                 Very distant Fly Flatts Stonechats



                                                    Male







                      Mixenden Goosander




A free afternoon so over to Upper Marsh to check the Golden Plover field where the flock is slowly building with 83 present today but unfortunately the sun was behind them so no decent pics. This flock usually builds to near 300.
Back to Leeshaw where I missed getting a pic , whilst driving , of 2 what I think were Hercules planes very low over the moor then banking over the Nab and out of sight over Fly Flatts.
                                                        Leeshaw had nothing spectacular, just the usual species building in numbers. Over the hill to Fly Flatts things were livelier with a group of 6 Stonechat all looking like first winter birds but some in the moult so hard to tell but just the one adult male amongst them. They kept at distance below the top road slowly working their way right along the length of the reservoir.
                                                          Mixenden on the way home held a female Goldeneye as well as a male Goosander, otherwise the usual species plus a Sparrowhawk  high over the plantation.

Upper Marsh
83 Golden Plover
c 60 Lapwing
c 100 Starling

Leeshaw
1pr Goosander
4 Curlew
7 Oystercatchers
1 Cormorant
97 Canada geese
43 Greylag
Several Lapwing

Fly Flatts
6 Stonechat
Several Canadas

Mixenden
1m Goosander
1 f Goldeneye
1 Sparrowhawk
25 Canadas
1 LBB gull
c 40 small gulls
BS