Out in the frozen wilds, Fly Flatts

                                               Ice sculpture

                                         Frozen grass

  Still the hardy Stonechats hang on in there,  male

                                                             female in near dark.

                                              2 m 3 f present.

An afternoon free so arrived at Fly Flatts at 1400 hrs with 60 % cloud cover, some of the clouds looking threatening and snow filled but these drifted over >SE. The wind was cool but only N>4 although the water was freezing as it splashed over the south shoreline.
                                                    Just 12 Mallards on the water and a single female Teal way over in the NE corner sheltering under the banking. No gulls moving today with just 2 Kestrels and a distant Peregrine in the sky along with a Raven over the quarry.
                                                        Hopes of a December Greenshank did,nt happen ,unlike the one I found up there 9/12/2007, wow, is it really 10 years since. 
A near miss with Scoters when 2 females were found on Mixenden this afternoon by Pete Smith which I was going to call and see on the way home but the light bet me.
                                                            On the way back up the track 2 male and 3 female Stonechats were flitting about in the sheep field on the edge of darkness.
BS