A bright start to the morning at Fly Flatts which lasted 15 minutes before the fog started rolling in with several close knit fog banks passing through and not clearing until 0900 hrs. Light drizzle on an ice cold moderate W>4 gusting 5 at 1 degree.
Yesterday I got my Fly Flatts head back on but this morning I soon lost it again with an exceptionally poor watch.
Just 4 BH gulls over >NE and 3 Crows in the air whilst 29 Mallard were on the water.
Mid afternoon at Ogden produced a good assortment of gulls on the rough water and all battling to face the wind.
The west bank Alders just produced 2 Goldcrest whilst a Dipper and Kingfisher were in the sluice gate area.
Re NKs blog, public footpath signs ripped down on Soil Hill-- I have been told in the last 3 days by 3 separate birders about getting grief by a land owner or farmer on Soil Hill. One got a lot of verbal abuse and told to get on the footpath, where ever that is now, and the other 2 were shouted at and told to get off the hill as it is private. All 3 said what a nasty person he was. ? The original public right of way is the track up passed the mast and straight on down the North slope to Keelham. A footpath also branches left at the top of the slope to Ned Hill and one to the right goes to Perseverance Road.
The main central footpath was closed legally for a period of time whilst work was going on in the area but should have been reinstated long ago. The only area that a farmer has been keen about keeping strictly private is the fenced off field down the north slope to the west of the tree line and of course all walled off grazing fields.
NK and myself have a permit for the whole of the summit provided by Mr Greenwood going back to the days when it was a quarry works, and his son who runs it now knows of both Nigel and me with no problems. Nobody has ever approached me and hopefully they know better than approach Nigel.
Ogden
21 Herring gull, 13 - ad or sub ad, 8 - 1st winter
2 ad LBB
c 200 small gulls
1 Kingfisher
1 Dipper
2 Goldcrest
BS