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Thursday, January 17, 2019

An Icy Fly Flatts. a.m.

                    Icy conditions
                                   Iced up floating jetty




                       Good winter for Great Black Backed gulls



A white scene at Queensbury this morning with a covering of snow frozen over and icy roads.
Strangely as I got out of Queensbury everywhere else was clear and even Fly Flatts had no sign of snow making a pleasant but cold morning with a strong NW>5 and a temp of minus 1 degrees with clear blue skies and sunshine.
                                             A real eye waterer walking along the west bank but worth a check in good Bunting/Lark conditions but not to be. The water was void of birds with all the edges frozen keeping the Mallards down in Dean Head.
                                                My expectation of Pinkies moving never materialized but Great Black Backed gulls started moving over mid watch very high and mainly distant over the moor with a count of 11 >NE before I left plus 16 LBBs.
Its looking like its going to be a re run of last winter with Pink Footed Geese moving mostly after dark and unseen but time will tell. At least GBBs are putting in a good show this winter. A single distant Buzzard and 2 Raven were the only other birds present along with a few Red Grouse.
BS