Cullingworth fields.
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| This is one of the Herrings I was looking at Keith which looked to have dull yellowish legs. Dont know if this was the bird you looked at with the long P10 mirror. |
Very wet and windy at Leeshaw this morning on a SW>5 with heavy frizzle showers but good visibility
below the cloud base.
Things were understandably much quieter this morning in the strong wind but another record count of gulls. A few post roost Redwing and Fieldfare which flew up out of the Hawthorns and headed off >NW.
The water held 2 Wigeon, 1 Teal and the usual Cormorant but these were keeping to the shelter of the west bank.
Perfect timing from NK late morning with a call reporting a skein of Pinkies heading my way. I was in the conservatory at the time and as he was talking I looked up and there they were, just over 40 struggling into the wind first >W then >SW. Thanks for the call Nigel, a rare sighting for geese over Queensbury lately.
Mid afternoon at Cullingworth fields in horrendous conditions with a gale force wind and horizontal drizzle, but thats the beauty of gull watching as it doesnt affect the birds.
Over 1000 gulls spread between 2 fields but very flighty lifting off and settling continuously, but about 30% of them within viewing range.
A very mind boggling scan through hundreds of Black Headeds looking for a Med gull but nothing showing, although a few Herrings could have been interesting if they had kept still longer.
After 1 hour peering through the scope and bins my brain was getting fraggled so time to call it a do. As I was leaving KM arrived to take over the second shift.
Leeshaw
18 Stock Dove
38 Fieldfare
52 Redwing
4 Mipits
22 Herring
36 LBB
c 300 Small gulls
1 Kestrel
2 Wigeon
1 Teal
1 Cormorant
+ usual sp
Cullingworth Fields
c 1000 Gulls
23 Redwing in trees
BS