From one extreme to the other weather wise with rain and fog yesterday then hot sunshine and still with blue skies today. My 2 worst weather nightmares.
A poor morning at Fly Flatts in the still and bright conditions with very little moving in the sky after 0900 hrs. On arrival there were around 150 Mipits on the north bank mud but the arrival of 2 Peregrines and a Sparrowhawk soon cleared the area. The 5 Tufted were back on the water whilst Greylags were on the move with 18 over in 3 high skeins .
By 0930 hrs boredom was setting in , especially now with limited places to walk and being restricted mainly to the boatyard and east bank cobbled area, so a quick stop off at the Black Redstart site where it was showing well but again very distant. The bird was a bit more ambitious today flying to the wall across the sheep field to the south of the farm.
Next stop on the way home was a walk along the Ned Hill track where 2 Whitethroats were still present .
With no change in the weather late afternoon I went over to Redcar Tarn, Keighley to check the gull situation where KM was taking gull photos as I arrived but gone by the time I got parked up. Amazingly busy, people wise, for a Monday but thats another problem that arises when the sun shines.
Plenty juv Herring and LBB gulls with only 2 adult of each species, the highlight being a juv Great Black Backed gull looking twice the size of the other big gulls. This bird, or another GBB was present over the weekend being reported by MD.
Otherwise it was down to the usual Tufteds, Coots, Moorhens etc with around 80 Lapwings in the field across the road. Always a good spot to visit but a nightmare journey with the traffic getting there and back.
I spoke to one of the sailing club members this morning at the Black Red site who informed me that several Pink Footed geese went over his house at Harden Moor last night in the dark giving contact calls.
Fly Flatts Vis Mig
18 Greylag...............................>SW
140 Mipits..............................>S
7 Alba Wagtails.....................>W
8 Mistle Thrush.....................>W
Present
2 Wheatear
2 BH gull
1 LBB gull
5 Tufted
c 150 Mipits................ blogging
1 Sparrowhawk
2 Peregrine
3 Kestrel
Redwings due any day now.
BS