of plumage now.
chicks, along comes this lot.
sightings of little yellow duckling.
1500 hrs and a pleasing hour at Fly Flatts with the cool ESE>4 making up for the blue skies and sunshine.
The fresher air had got the big gulls moving with several Lesser Black Backed and Herrings over >NE, some stopping briefly on the water to preen whilst the only other airborne birds were a few Swifts.
Juv Common Sandpipers are everywhere, some now flying with others running up and down the waters edge like mice but all looking in good shape and amazingly well camouflaged keeping them safe.
Dunlins were back on the scene with 4 around the lagoon feeding whilst at least 2 juvs were in the reed bed. Just 1 Barnacle on the water among the Canadas whilst a Mallard with a late brood of 9 ducklings has just appeared, something else for me to worry about. Strangely 3 families of Mallard and ducklings have not been seen , along with the little yellow job, since after the first couple of sightings and I suspected the females leading them away to a safer location away from the gulls.
This idea seemed to make more sense this evening when I spoke to a couple by the water and they told me the family of Greylag with 6 well grown young , which disappeared from Fly Flatts a couple of weeks ago, were now at Cold Edge Dams. As the young were non flyers they must have walked over the Flat moor to the dams, a practice I,ve see Canadas do in the past.
A few year back a pair of Canadas had 4 young in a mates garden by his large fishing pond and as the young grew bigger, but not flying, they all walked across the main Bradford Halifax Road, down through Tesco car park and into Littlemoor Park about half a mile away.
Another day of the hot stuff tomorrow so hopefully the promised NE wind will be strong enough to cool things down a bit.
BS