The moderate W>5 did the trick this morning getting the gulls moving with around 500 small gulls on the water, in the fields and moving through >W, 80 % of these being Black Headed and 20% Common. Herring gulls were also coming through in good numbers with around 100 adult and first year birds skimming low over the water, some settling , all heading west.
An active morning throughout and good to bump into Pete Grba again doing one of his long walks past Leeshaw. He asked me if I,d seen a Gt Northern Diver during the morning on Leeshaw, ha ha, ever the optimist is Pete. If you,re reading this DJS Pete sends you and Jen best wishes for the new year.
A late afternoon visit to Fly Flatts was just the opposite with a vacuum of bird life having seen 1 Red Grouse, 1 Kestrel and 32 Mallard in 1 hours strife.
One interesting point at Fly Flatts was a group of people that I,ve seen recently over a wide area of the moor spending full days up there in all weathers spread out right across the moor . At first I thought they were Keepers then possible magic mushroom pickers but today they were on the flat moor so I managed to speak to them and ask what they were doing. Surprisingly they were planting Sphagnum Moss in areas all around the moor which must be a worse job than looking for birds looking at the muddy state they were in. Well done to those men.
Leeshaw reservoir
c 500 Small gulls
c100 Herring gull..........................>W
10 Canada
3 Greylag
18 Mallard
1 Cormorant
1 Buzzard
1 Sparrowhawk
sev Fieldfare
2m Goosander
BS