A cool but clear morning at Leeshaw reservoir with a moderate W>4 at 7 degrees.
More or less just down to gulls this visit with a good count of Herrings coming in from the east along with a few LBBs and around 200 small gulls settling on the north shore but very restless.
A few winter thrushes were present along with a single Mistle Thrush in the distant Hawthorns whilst just a small count of geese were in the big field.
Mid afternoon was bright and breezy until I arrived at Fly Flatts to find mist clouds creeping over the moor and a near gale W>7 at 33 m.p.h. driving horizontal heavy drizzle across the choppy water.
I walked the length of the reservoir below the west bank in hopes of Snow Bunting but not a bird in sight. My last Snow Bunt sightings at Fly Flatts were back in 2018 , one early December and the other late December. Before that it was January 2015 with 1 at Fly Flatts and this coincided with the last sightings we had at Soil Hill where before that they were annual over wintering birds.
I left Fly Flatts at 1500 hrs having not seen a single bird, oh well, roll on tomorrow.
On a brighter note, a text from Mark Murray reporting a single Brambling along with 5 Chaffinch and 20 Greenfinch in his Yews Green garden this morning. Marks garden is the one that produced a Firecrest many moons ago. Thanks for that Mark.
Leeshaw
23 Herring gull
12 LBB gull
c 200 small gull
8 Fieldfare
27 Redwing
1 Mistle Thrush
+ usual sp.
BS