Horizontal rain showers at Fly Flatts, (no public access)

    Same juv Ringed Plover and ad Dunlin for 3 days now.

                                                         NW corner

A moderate SW>5 turning W>6 was,nt as bad as I expected today although the heavy horizontal rain proved unpleasant. Visibility was good at 12 degrees with 7 okts cloud cover decreasing to 6 okts with some sun in between the showers.
                                                             All vis mig took place early morning apart from the surprise of 2 Sand Martins over late afternoon.
Quiet on the wader front with the same Dunlin and juv Ringed Plover in the NW corner that have been present for 3 days now whilst 6 Teal were still present and 3 Tufted on the water. The Scaup x Tufted type had gone making it look even more suspicious.
                                                   The daytime security guard was on duty up there for 9 hours today before swopping over with the night man. Unfortunately he told me he,s not a birder otherwise what a brilliant job that would be watching over the reservoir for 9 hours and getting paid for it.

Vis Mig
2 Sand Martin.............................>S
7 Swallows.................................>S
38 Mipits....................................>S
12 Black Headed gulls...............>SE
2 Grey Wagtails.........................>W
6 Collared Doves......................>W

Bloggers
11 Collared Doves...................by the Delvers
3 Tufted duck
6 Teal
sev Mipits
1 juv Ringed Plover
1 ad Dunlin.
BS

No Fly Flatts today, withdrawal symptoms set in.

Disaster today on the birding scene with the car in dock for MOT and service from this morning till late afternoon. Dropped it off in Halifax early doors then paid £3.00 on the bus back home and another £3.00 back to town to pick it up late afternoon. I would,nt mind but the bus did,nt even have a conductor, or clippy as the females were called, and the door was at the front instead of  an opening with a pole at the back which was handy if you were missing the bus as you could launch yourself at the pole and pull yourself on and also jump off as the bus was slowing down so the driver did,nt have to stop.No health and safety in those days.
                                                        Luckily , with the gale force SW that would have been blowing at Fly Flatts its unlikely that I would have missed much either on the deck or in the air vis mig wise although there are several Greenshank moving through at the moment so I,ll be checking for those in the morning.
                   Today just comprised of dog walks around Foxhill and through Old Guy Road to Roper Lane. The cricket field held 2 Wheatear and 7 juv Pied Wagtails whilst a distant Whinchat was in the usual spot down Old Guy Road though everything was very mobile in the strong winds.
                No sign of Redstart in the hot spot area below the Roper Lane watch point but not ideal conditions for passerines. A few Swallows battled through all skimming the fields and >S.
                 The SW wind has to be stronger still tomorrow with some heavy rain which could make things interesting.

Heres a few pics of different stages of the water level at Fly Flatts.

 Looking across from the west bank to the islands.

                                Looking east from the NW banking

      The north shore has now taken over the east shore

                Imaging scanning this area for a small wader

                                           The drying up SE ponds

                                  Plenty places for waders to hide here

                                South shore line in the distance

                 A good spot for a Green Sandpiper , south inlet

               East shore below the club house, not very productive here.

             looking from the club house to the SW corner.

                                        The islands are a good pick up point.

BS

Some waders out, some waders in, Fly Flatts, (no public access)

                  14 Wheatear ground hopping >S

                                           Across the island

                                           1 of 5 Snipe grounded the off >SW

     New birds in, juv Ringed Plover and adult breeding Dunlin

                       Black belly plumage of adult
                 The Dunlin that left 2 days ago was clean white
                                                        juv plumage.

 The female Tufted that visits Fly Flatts looking like Scaup
               with excessive white face and large bill.

     A second female Tufted , smaller bird, less white, tuft showing

                Larger looking bird and domed head

                                         The 2nd Tufted, darker with tuft.

          A definite slight tuft shows after diving and in the wind.

   I,m not saying this is Pete Smiths bird from Cold Edge ?

                       Stands out even at distance.
                      I,d put this bird down to hybrid Scaup x Tufted with darker back than flanks
as in Tufted , excessive white face and reduced black on bill as in Scaup. A definite hint
of a tuft.

Once again a foggy start to the morning but soon clearing to leave 6 okts cloud cover on a  moderate SW>4 increasing 5. Some early drizzle as the fog was clearing.
                                                            A good early morning move as soon as the fog lifted with Mipits piling through , several of which had been grounded around the ponds overnight. Snipe had also come down in the fog with 5 around the ponds before soon moving of >W.
                                                           A single Ringed Plover left the island heading >S , again just as the fog lifted, whilst a new in juv Ringed Plover was found on the north bank late afternoon along with an adult breeding plumaged Dunlin, unlike the juv plumaged bird that was present earlier in the week.
Another good move of Wheatear with 14 ground hopping over the islands and off >S the same as yesterdays 11 birds did.
Security guards are now on duty 24 hrs up there and I have to sign in and out with the site foreman.
Maybe if I slip him a tenner he,ll turn the surveillance cameras round to cover the shoreline so I don,t miss anything.

Vis Mig
1 Ringed Plover.................>S
2 Swift..............................>S
35 Swallow......................>S
314 Mipits.......................>S
9 Lapwing.......................>S
14 Wheatear....................>S
5 Snipe...........................>W

Bloggers
1 ad Dunlin
1 juv Ringed Plover
2 pr Tufted duck inc 1 poss hybrid..Tufted x Scaup

BS

A day in the clouds. Fly Flatts, (no public access).

            The water is mega distance from the south track now.

                                    Getting impossible to see parts of the shoreline now.

                                             South shore ponds drying up.

                                   All this area is usually well under water.

Lovely to be back in the cool, fresh air at Fly Flatts today even though conditions were poor for movers throughout with heavy drizzle and mist both the morning and afternoon watch.
Low scud clouds piled through and by 0945 hrs this morning fog had stopped the job. The afternoon was misty but managed to keep horizontal vision despite heavy drizzle showers.
                                                     All the waders had moved on before the weather front hit with nothing coming in today surprisingly in the conditions.
Despite the poor visibility I had a decent assortment of movers with a single Swift which must be very nearly my last this time whilst 9 Wheatear came ground hopping through from the north shore, across the islands onto the south shore and then away >S over Slade.
                                                     Apart from the movers and blogging Mipits the only birds present were Tufted duck, Teal and Mallard as well as the last 4 remaining Canadas.
                                                    Checking the shoreline is getting more difficult every day now that the water is so low with the south end shoreline a great distance from the track and dipping down to the water so birds are easily hidden from view.
The east shore mud area has now become the north shore with water gone from the top half of the reservoir and even the new islands are already joining to the shore. I can very rarely get on the west bank now and within the next few weeks it will all be fenced off so all viewing will have to be from the south end and from the east just beyond the boat yard.
                                               After the vis mig season and when all the waders are gone, as well as the water, it looks like the place will be redundant over the winter which was the time winter wildfowl kept me going through to the spring.

Vis Mig
5 Herring gull.......................>SW
22 Mipits..............................>S
14 Swallows........................>S
11 House Martin.................>S
1 Swift...............................>S
9 Wheatear........................>S

Bloggers
sev Mipits
1pr Tufted
2 Teal

Present
4 Mallard
BS

Waders, Ducks, Flies and Tree Pipits, Fly Flatts, (no public access).

                               4 Ringed Plover and 1 Dunlin present

                                          adult and juv, 2 of each

                  juv Dunlin, 1st year non breeding.

                                        on the east shore

                                          LBB gulls moving through

                                            6 Teal present

                                           1 pr Tufted.

                                      on the south shore

          Where are the Spotted Flycatchers when you want them.

Another hot sticky morning but improved more by late afternoon with less sun, more cloud cover and a nice SE>3. A heavy rain shower early evening but that was after I had left.
                                                      A bit of everything today with sky movement, ducks on the water and waders and gulls on the shore. A good move of gulls first thing whilst 2 Tree Pipits over were this mornings highlight in the sky. The Peregrine had a quick and unsuccessful attempt at the Mipits but left, not to be seen again.
                                            The water held Tufted duck, Mallards, Teal and Black Headed gulls with LBB and Herring on the shore. Another Ringed Plover had come in overnight to join the group which now held 2 adult and 2 juvenile Ringed Plover and 1 juv, first year breeding Dunlin.
                                          Again, despite the weather, a decent days birding and rain forecast for tomorrow ,thats hoping they re right.

Vis Mig
2 Tree Pipit....................................>W
5 Alba Wagtail..............................>W
27 LBB gull.................................>SW
2 Snipe........................................>SW
102 Mipit.....................................>S
18 Swallow..................................>S
3 House Martin...........................>S

Bloggers
sev Meadow Pipit
6 Teal
2 Tufted
3 BH gull
4 Ringed Plover
1 Dunlin

Present
Peregrine
4 Mallard
BS