Another dark ,cold icy morning after overnight snow. A light NE>4 with cloudy skies at 1 degree.
Leeshaw was very quiet this morning with around 100 small gulls , 8 Mallard and a Cormorant on the water with no signs of yesterdays Teal and Wigeon.
The 2 resident Dippers were up in the top of the overflow, possibly with the beck running too fast to feed in. Plenty corvids but no Buzzard today.
Mid afternoon and with Fly Flatts still inaccessible due to ice I made a bad move by going to check the gulls at Horton Bank Top CP which was almost completely frozen over
leaving just a small area of water crowded with Coot, Moorhen, Mallards and Mute Swans whilst the Gt Crested Grebe and Tufteds had left.
Just a handful of small gulls were on the ice along with 4 2 cy Herrings which soon left through disturbance. The walk down and back up the track there is lethal with hard packed ice from top to bottom.
A stop off at Littlemoor Park on the way home checking for Brambling failed to find any but a reward of 15 Greenfinch, a disappearing species in this area. Otherwise there were several of the usual Tits , Chaffinch etc.
More snow forecast for tomorrow on a NE wind and already the fog is creeping in this evening.
Leeshaw
2 Dipper
1 Cormorant
8 Mallard
c 100 small gulls
Horton Bank Top CP
Moorhens
Coot
2 Mute Swan
Mallards
4 2 cy Herring gull
+ usual sp.
Littlemoor Park
15 Greenfinch
sev Chaffinch, Coal, Great, Blue Tit, Blackbirds etc
+ usual sp.
BS