A single BH gull is near the centre of the picture.
The upside down van in the right hand corner is of
course a reflection, although theres nothing unusual
about an upside down van at Fly flatts.
full of hay bales. Near impossible to split the land
from the water.
Another glorious visit to Fly Flatts at 3 degrees with a calm NW>2 and hardly a ripple on the water. It doesnt get better than this mid summer although the birds don,t seem to think so with a close down of any sky movement and just a few Mallard and a lonely Billy no mates Black Headed gull on the water.
Pheasants and Red grouse were vocal whilst a pair of Stonechat down by the stream boosted the watch somewhat although way too dull at the distance to even attempt any photos.
With a report of Pinkies moving over Scammonden I set up my stall half way up the track for the last 30 minutes of daylight scanning the western ridge but nothing showing although there was a mist once you got as far as Stoodley Pike.
A quick sighting of a Short Eared Owl over by the wind turbines concluded the show so it was up stumps and head back to Queensbury.
Not to be too disillusioned , looking back at last Januarys reports it was very much the same, in fact I left Fly Flatts occasionally spreading myself around the area trying to come up with something different.
By February the pressure was off with Dunlin starting to appear as well as Whoopers, Canadas and the usual Barnacle all back on station in the first couple of weeks whilst the first Curlew arrived back on the 18th. By the end of February we were back on Wheatear watch. Talk about wishing your time away!
BS