1445 hrs and back at Fly Flatts in similar conditions to this morning with heavy drizzle showers and the wind increased to near gale W>7 at 33 m.p.h. measured from the west banking.
This mornings fall of Mipits had moved on leaving 2 Wheatear on the south shore but no waders.
A blustery walk on the west bank to my watch point produced 2 Curlew over >NE but very high and soon disappearing into the cloud . A scan along the east bank through bins, it was way too windy to use the scope, found no waders on the shore line but 5 ducks were in a pond at the back of the banking but way too distant to identify. As Id already found the 5 Teal and 14 Tufted up the north end I thought Id better check them out as at the moment there is only 1 female Mallard with 3 well grown young present.
I scrambled down the west banking to get partly out of the wind then left it up to Big Bertha 2 to get a couple of shots so I could zoom them in to identify them.
The ducks were 5 new in female Mallard but surprisingly a Dunlin was in front of them. A careful scan with the bins and more pics produced 4 Dunlin which I very nearly missed.
So a decent Bank Holiday with wild conditions but not enough to keep me away apart from 1 session missed through fog . A drop in wind tomorrow and supposedly dry so should get chance for a serious scan around the shore line to see if anything else is hiding , who knows, could even get that long awaited Tern. Oddly I,ve only had 1 Tern species up here this year and that was the hardest to find being a Sandwich Tern. I also had a Common Tern at Elland gravel pits, both being in March this year.
BS