A bit fresher and clearer morning with a light W>3 with broken cloud and sunshine at 10 degrees.
Birds were livelier early doors but things began to quieten down as the wind eased and temperature rose. The Starling flock was up to around 400 adults and young and very mobile around the top fields spooked by Merlin, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel . Was hoping everything would come up Rosy but just down to the black and brown versions.
A gift from the gods today, after MPs report of gulls appearing in the fields , with around 90 big gulls circling high over the water and a few landing briefly on the east bank. They were mainly LBBs with a few Herring , some of which looked like early juveniles but too distant and heat shudder to check them properly.
With the small wader passage drawing to a close it will be nice to replace them with some gulls and possibly some long legged waders though I,m not holding my breath on the latter. An odd Greenshank and Ruff is about as good as it gets at Fly Flatts for some reason, even last spring and autumn with acres of mud showing.
Otherwise the morning just provided the usual species whilst the afternoon visit was abandoned early with soaring heat and a very light west breeze. Bring back the wind and rain.
Fly Flatts
2 R L Partridge
1 Skylark
c 400 Starlings
sev Swallows
2 Oyks
2 Redshank
4 Common Sandpipers
2 Ringed Plover
1 Barnacle goose
c 70 LBB gull
21 Herring gull
1 Sparrowhawk
1 m Merlin
2 Kestrel.
+ usual sp.
BS