A bright sunny morning after heavy overnight freezing with a temperature of 0 degree on a W>4 but sheltered around Ogden with ,once again, fog on the tops. The weather deteriorated as the day went on with a strengthening W>5 bringing some heavy blizzard snow showers but only fine stuff so not settling.
Thirty minutes into the watch and it was time to take off the 600mm and fit the 18-55mm as it was obvious that the only photos I was going to get was a few landscapes with very little in the way of birds. Absolutely nothing around the waterside trees and nothing in the lodge house feeding area.
The water held a good number of small gulls and the usual Mallards whilst the Kingfisher was down in the sluice gate area and 8 Lt Tits were on the info centre feeders. A single Song Thrush was the star bird.
Shelf Moor trailer park field was lively though birds were distant in the second field back and the Cross Lane field with Lapwings, Fieldfare and Mistle Thrush along with a good flock of Starling.
This is another poor year for Lapwing with 38 present today whereas the flock used to be over 300 by this time each year along with Golden Plover, another species gone.
We,ve always watched Lapwings in this area but it was 15/4/2012 when Tracy Collier alerted me to this field with 21 Wheatear present which stayed around a few days so the field has been watched more closely ever since. NK also discovered a good roosting area for Snipe nearby which peaked at 48 back in 8/12/2013 but unfortunately work is now in progress in the Snipe field. I wonder whatever happened to Tracy?
Ogden
c 150 BH gulls
8 Lt Tits
1 Kingfisher
1 Song Thrush
+ usual sp.
Shelf Moor
1 Sparrowhawk
38 Lapwing
16 Fieldfare
13 Mistle Thrush
c 50 Starling.
BS