All 600mm hand held with slow shutter speed
to get some light in.
A dull dank day from the start but keeping dry until late afternoon at Fly Flatts of course.
A good start off to the morning with Woodpigeons piling over the garage >S along with Redwings and a few Chaffinch. A single Pintail was a nice surprise also heading >S over the same flight path that Denise S and myself have had them in previous years.
The last sightings were a 9 for Denise and a 3 for me and both September sightings plus a pair at Ogden Nov, 2016.
Late afternoon and the usual pilgrimage to Fly Flatts to carry on my community service birding the area. Conditions were near perfect for birding but not for photography with 100 % dark cloud cover and light rain turning heavy for a short period. The wind was a steady >W5.
Walking on the west bank mumbling that it looked like my hat trick dip of the week with quiet skies and water, until scanning for Wheatear below the banking beyond the feeding station I picked up 2 distant Blackbirds! Blackbirds at Fly Flatts, I dont think so. Edging a little further along the banking told me that Fly Flatts had given me a reprieve and provided a pair of Ring Ouzel, coinciding with a fly over for HC at Queensbury yesterday.
The birds had spotted me on the banking and were becoming fidgety so I grabbed the camera to get some record shots. With dark skies and camera aiming down the banking at 600mm I had to shut the camera right down to get anything near bloggable and after a few bursts of the shutter they went over the fence dropping onto the moor not to be re located.
Also present were 15 Mallard and 4 Herring gull overhead >W. Once again the effort of hammering a local patch paid off.
On the way home driving towards the Raggalds 4 Wigeon took off from the Flood and flew in the direction of Ogden. The Flood has now held Wigeon on and off for the past 2 weeks.
BS