Another foggy morning sent me down below the cloud base to Ogden but very heavy rain throughout.
Due to the path around the water being bogged down, and not wanting to bath the dogs, I stuck to the promenade and a short way on the east track.
The Dipper was down by the sluice gate but the water was void of bird life other than 2 Cormorants and the usual Mallards. Not far along the east track I came across a tit flock building up with several Great, Blue, Coal and Long Tailed tits along with around 5 Goldcrest and a late Willow Warbler.
Up to 9 Blackbird were also in the same area.
By late afternoon the fog had finally cleared so another attempt to get to Fly Flatts which this time was successful although 4 fire engines were still present and damping down at the recycling centre near the Crossroads Inn which as I suspected was where Fridays fire was and the place is now gutted,.
A cold N>4 had cleared the fog but heavy drizzle was still falling drying up slightly before I left. Its an amazing sight up there with water pouring into the reservoir from all sides and the water it now nearly back up to where it started from, being just short of the floating jetty, even though the valve is open in an attempt to drain it.
The water held the same 12 Tufted duck with 2 Wheatear on the south shore whilst gulls were the bird of the afternoon with a constant flow >SW throughout, some very high and circling as they went.
A dryer day forecast for tomorrow but yet another fog warning for morning.
41 Herring gull.................................>SW
18 LBB gull......................................>SW
2 Common gull.................................>SW
9 Black Headed gull.........................>NE
2 Wheatear
12 Tufted duck.
BS