at 2 degrees. The roads on the way there were treacherous with shot ice along Long Causeway past Thornton Moor.
Leeshaw was alive from start to finish, one of those mornings where you don,t want to leave. Part of the Greylag flock had returned to the reservoir fields and a search through them soon revealed the single Pink Footed Goose though it was not yet fully daylight so photos were poor but dare,nt wait till it brightened in case they had a blast off which they did shortly after I,d walked down to the track bottom.
5m and 3f Goosander were on the water but no Herring gulls today other than 17 fly overs >W and a single 1st winter bird on the wall.
Fieldfares were also fly overs today with flocks of around 20 to 30 all NE and very high whilst 3 Snipe were at the same altitude heading >W.
Its amazing the number of small gulls that are around the Oxenhope area compared to the Fly Flatts area with well over a thousand in fields between Leeshaw and Thornton Moor.
Late afternoon and a hazy Fly Flatts which once again failed to produce anything other than 27 Mallard and a Kestrel.
Whats happened to all the winter wildfowl this year with just a handful of Goldeneye so far ?
Leeshaw reservoir
172 Greylag
1 Pink Footed Goose
2 Canadas
8 Goosander
3 Snipe
142 Fieldfare
32 Lapwing
18 Herring gull
1 Wren
Only 4 days now t'ut shortest day and then wi bahn tuther ro'ad
BS