A mainly dry morning at Leeshaw still with the strong W>6 at 4 degrees. Sunshine and showers before clouding over but turning dry.
A good morning for gulls with the majority of the big gulls finding shelter in the fields rather than the rough water. Herrings were moving >W throughout the watch coming in from the east and stopping off briefly before heading off >W again along with a smaller number of Lesser Black Backed. Commons and Black Headeds don,t seem to be worried about the water condition with several settled on the water.
Oystercatcher numbers were up to 27 and Redshank up to 9 along with 2 Snipe and 6 Grey Partridge. A pair of Teal were the only wildfowl present other than the Canadas and Greylags.
A check on the Dog and Gun field on the way back found Herrings and LBBs as well as small gulls. One Herring stood out like an Iceland being very pale and a smaller size. Because its so pale its hard to say 1w or 2w but Olsen gives 3 possible reasons for these uncommon pale Herrings.
One is an hybrid, Herring x Glaucous which going by its size I would rule out. Two is the pale feature being down to a late moult showing wear and fade on the plumage , and third, which I think most probable, is ssp 'argenteus' which is a smaller built bird than 'argentatus' with a more rounded head and more lightly build with a shorter , less strong bill. Unfortunately the image is not sharp enough for plumage detail.
Maybe my gull back up team will have views on this.
Fly Flatts was a wash out with a gale force W>8 gusting 9 at 41 mph with lashing rain , sleet and snow. The only birds present were Canada geese.
Leeshaw
c 180 Herrings
12 LBBs
27 Oystercatcher
9 Redshank
1 pr Teal
6 Grey Partridge
2 Snipe
+ usual sp.
BS