Early morning Snipe up in the mist.
Local Heron moving in
Greylags
1 of 8 Cormorant >W
A few geese returning to the fields.
Cormorants >W
- More fog for Fly Flatts early morn so back to Leeshaw where conditions were good once the drizzle and scud clouds had moved over. The sky became bright with a touch of sun on a W>3 at 8 degrees.
- Snipe were the first movers with 14 over in small groups of 3 and 2 keeping high so just visible in the low cloud. Cormorants were also active, skimming low over the water then gaining height and away over the moors >W.
- Only 1 Dipper showing in the beck this morning whilst a few Canada and Greylag geese are slowly returning to the fields for winter. Hopefully there,ll be a nice group of Barnacles join them like 5/1/2013 when 44 dropped into the fields by the reservoir.
- Late afternoon at a now clear but icy cold Fly Flatts with the wind turned to NW and increased to NW>5 at 10 degrees but feeling much colder taking in the wind factor.
- An hour of gulls with 22 Herring gulls moving through very high and >SW but otherwise very quiet apart from 9 Stonechat on fence wires alongside the entrance track.
- Good to see KM and his good lady walking towards Fly Flatts on Cold Edge Road with Keith still sticking it out in shorts. Keith is one of the old school birders, hardy bred and out in all weathers and unique for birding Fly Flatts in shorts in October. I like to think I am of the same breed but today I was wishing I,d put my thermals on.
- Well done to Keith for the time and effort he puts into local birding creating amazing records for Bradford with his tedious task of finding, then checking through, hundreds of gulls where he regularly picks out Meds, YL Herrings, Glaucous etc, his latest achievement being relocating the Franklins gull, first on a factory roof in Bradford and then at his favourite patch at Redcar Tarn giving several birders chance to view it.
- VISIBLE MIGRATION Leeshaw
- 3 Jay......................>W
- 33 Lapwing...........>E
- 14 Snipe................>W
- 39 Woodpigs........>S
- 3 Mistle Thrush...>W
- 42 Mipits.............>S
- 8 Cormorant........>W
- 2 Greylag............>NW
- PRESENT
- 3 Greylag
- 16 Canada
- 1 Dipper
- 4 LBB gull
- c 100 BH gull
- + usual sp.
- VISIBLE MIGRATION p.m. Fly Flatts
- 22 Herring gull.........>SW
- PRESENT
- 3 Stonechat
- BS
