Halloween/ Spookily quiet skies, Fly Flatts (no public access)

    Strange area to find a grounded Redwing.

                                          2 Stonechat present

                                                             Male

                                    A good move of Herring gulls

Hazy, milky skies this morning with a cold 5 degree >SE brightening as the morning wore on.
                                                              The skies were strangely empty and by 0930 hrs I had seen one grounded Redwing and a Kestrel and it hardly livened up before I left.
Once again the afternoon provided more birds with a good gull move all >SW along with a few other species on the move. The Redwing was by the lagoon this morning and this afternoon was re located by the track checking out the Nyjer seed along with 2 Stonechat.
                                                          No gulls on the shoreline this evening, possibly due to the big move of Herrings and Lessers throughout the afternoon.
By the end of the afternoon watch rain was moving in and fog was on the sidelines looking likely to move in overnight.

Vis Mig
66 Starling.........................>NW
72 Woodpigs.....................>S
48 Herring gull.................>SW
87 LBB gull......................>SW
21 Redwing......................>NW
12 Fieldfare......................>NW

Present
32 Mallard
2 Stonechat
1 Redwing
4 BH gull
1 Kestrel
1 Peregrine.

Hope you dont get too many trick or treats knocking on your door. I wont, I,ve cable tied the gate, Lynda says I,m miserable!!!
BS

Fly Flatts, a better day despite the fog.

                                  3 Skeins of Pinks through a.m.

                                    A wader at last. Dunlin >E in the murk.

                                               Starlings piling through

                                          Herrings on the shore

                                                       LBBs

A bright sunny morning which was short lived with fog patches piling through on a light SE>4.
Luckily I was able to keep visibility to the S and SW with the N and NE blanked off until it finally cleared. Starlings were powering through in squadrons up to 40 all >NW along with several Fieldfare in the same direction.
                                 Pink Footed geese were still moving with the first skein nearly missed in the clouds, the second skein passed well to the south of me whilst the third skein was out beyond the western ridge just managing a poor image to get a count on.
                                The bird of the morning was a single Dunlin >E high up and moving fast in the murky sky.
Much quieter in the afternoon with still some Starling moving and gulls building up on the North shore.

Vis Mig
2 Buzzard.................................>SE
12 Woodpigs............................>SE
15 Redwing.............................>NW
79 Fieldfare............................>NW
572 Starling...........................>NW
1 Mistle Thrush.....................>E
1 Common gull......................>NE
20 BH gull.............................>NE
174 Pinks...............................>W     3 skeins..........44, 77, 53.
1 Dunlin................................>E

Present
22 Canadas
47 Mallard
2 Stonechat
11 Herring
7 LBB
5 BHG
BS

Afternoon Pinks, Fly Flatts, (no public access)

                                    Big bird heading >S. Hercules.

                                  Plenty Mallards present

                                            24 Golden plover on the far NW shore

                                         2 skeins of Pinkies late afternoon >W

            2nd skein way over the western ridge

 These geese would have been able to see the west coast from their position.

                  Gulls building up on the north shore .

Another bright blue sky day and again very quiet in the morning but livening up for the late afternoon watch . Frozen ponds again this morning at 3 degrees rising to 9 degrees in the afternoon on an ENE>3.
             Starlings were the bird of the day with several squadrons over in the morning and continuing through the afternoon watch with just one flock of Fieldfare very low over the moor skimming the heather.
            An unusual time for Pink Footed Geese to be moving with 2 skeins over within a few minutes of one another at 1500 hrs. We seem to just be getting the dregs now with the big skeins gone.
        Otherwise it was just bits and bats with gulls coming in to the north shore again as the light faded.

Vis Mig
311 Starling............................>NW
32 Fieldfare...........................>NW
17 Lapwing...........................>NW
2 Herring gull.......................>W
74 Pinkies.............................>W       2 skeins   41, 33.

Present
42 Mallard
3 Mipits
6 BH gull
13 Herring gull
22 LBB gull
24 Golden Plover.
BS

Fly Flatts, a quiet day but excellent finish.

 Water well back up again after the weekends rain. North shore

                                                      Inlet at the NW corner

                                                      Ponds by the boatyard

                                       SE corner ponds and south shore

                                    Several Lesser Black Backed through

                                  A few Black Headed

                                     1pr Stonechat present

                                     Caterpillar for tea

                                         Sun Dog to the west

A cold start with frozen ponds and frosted grass at 2 degrees but pleasant with clear blue skies which strangely remained near bird less throughout the morning. By 0900 hrs boredom was setting in so I walked up the track to the top road to get the photos looking down on the water and to get plenty Nyjer seed down at the track sides with hopes of more Twite and an arrival of Snow Buntings.
                                               Strangely, looking at Trektellen, most sites were getting record numbers of movers including Oxenhope just over the Nab but my sky remained empty. Fly Flatts is a poor vis mig watch point even at the peak of the season having nothing near the number of birds recorded at other sites and by the end of October it usually draws to a close apart from a few stragglers.
                                                 Late afternoon was much livelier with gulls on the move and good numbers of big gulls coming in around 1530 hrs and landing on the water either to roost or pre roost before moving on to a renown roost site such as Oxenhope or Eccup.
                                               It was whilst watching the gulls come in that I picked up a bird over the water at medium height heading straight towards me. I dismissed it as a Starling but kept the bins on it and as it got near I could see it was a Ring Ouzel heading exactly the same flight path as my Ogden bird, straight West to East.
                                         Unfortunately Bertha was up on the tripod as the bird went directly overhead so no chance of getting up at that angle and by the time I,d ragged if off the sticks the bird was disappearing through the wind turbines flying fast and direct.
Another good record for Fly Flatts with my last seen at this location on nearly the same date of
26th Oct 2017 with 2 by the feeding station.

Vis Mig
12 Starling ....................>NW
3 Mipit.........................>S
14 Goldfinch...............>S
7 Chaffinch................>NW
29 LBB gull...............>SW
13 Herring.................>SW
1 Ring Ouzel.................>E

Present.
2 Stonechat
32 LBB gull
14 BHG gull
26 Herring gull
8 Goldfinch
2 Canada geese
36 Mallard
4 Mipits.............blogging.
BS