A full day of heavy rain from start to finish which was to be expected seeing as it was Halifax Gala.
a.m.
Very dark and wet with a moderate NW>4 meaning that the rain was coming across the water making scoping of the east shore very difficult. The main vital piece of equipment used today was the lens clart, or cloth, in non Yorkshire terms, which had to be used after every scan.
Mi Muther used to call me a 'clart eard'.
Very quiet on the bird scene with 1 Ringed Plover and the usual Common Sands and Redshank along with 1 Oystercatcher and 4 Snipe. Strangely not a single Dunlin was found.
The highlight , or disappointment, of the morning was as I was walking back to the car from the boatyard in heavy rain, a wader flew up from the SE ponds after being flushed by a Lapwing giving me about 30 seconds to view it in the bins. It went up high towards the turbines but then curved around back towards the water dropping down to land across at the north end of the east bank although I never saw it actually touch down with the clubhouse blocking the view. I wished now I,d attempted a photo but if l,d have taken the bins off it I,d have missed where it went and Bertha was tucked under my coat as she doesnt like the rain very much.
I only got an underside view and its left wing noting a pure white belly, single wing bar, short stubby bill and black tail and with the size and jizz I put it down to Turnstone though I couldnt get the orange legs which would have clinched it. The bird did,nt stand out with summer plumage marking so probably a non breeding juv although after a lot of scoping I never relocated the bird so will have to let that go as a non reported probable.
Swifts were piling through all morning >NW into the wind and 3 groups of Lapwing totaling around 100 birds headed >W, these probably being non breeders.
p.m. By late afternoon the rain was still pounding down with the wind turned and strengthened to W>5 again coming across the water so scoping was done peering around the two corners of the club house covering the east and south bank.
No sign of the suspected Turnstone with no waders on the east shore where 246 big gulls were present, 75% being sub adult Herrings.
Dunlins had reappeared in the ponds in the SE corner with 8 present along with 3 Redshank and 5 Common Sandpiper and whilst I was there a second Ringed Plover came in from the SE being pushed around the area by the other long staying bird.
Two windsurfers were out braving the weather and the water has risen slightly with water cascading in at the NW inlet. One of the windsurfers told me that the water is only waist deep now out in the middle.
BS