At last, decent weather to get back to Fly Flatts with a light SW>3 at 6 degrees with broken cloud and odd flickers of sunshine.
Fly Flatts is coming back to life slowly as it always does in February as long as the weather holds, with activity in the air and on the water as well as a few small passerines.
The pair of Pied Wagtails are back around the compound as well as a pair of Reed Bunting and an unusual visit from a Blackbird whilst a single Meadow Pipit was by the lagoon.
Canadas are returning to the water with 14 present and several overhead >NW whilst 3 Greylag headed >SW. Otherwise there we,re just 12 Mallard on the water.
Herring gulls were moving >NE and SW but LBBs are still noticeable by their absence. A Peregrine flew over 'Tattie Pie Hill' and a Kestrel was hovering over the 'Bumps'.
Thanks to PT at the Banktop Pink Footed Goose lookout for a shout at 1552 hrs of a skein of Pinks >W over Norwood Green but unfortunately they must have continued direct west and passed below Queensbury though NK and myself were both looking out from our gardens. Ironically, as I walked the dogs over Foxhill at 1630 hrs I got 5 straggler Pinks >W over Foxhill park. Thanks for the call Peter.
A reply about yesterdays ringed Herring gull on Soil Hill reported that it was ringed 1/5/2015 at Harewood Whin landfill site and this was the first reported sighting since then. Over 2500 gulls were ringed at this site between 2015 and 2018 with some being reported as far apart as the Barents sea and Morocco. Unfortunately, this last of the landfill sites has now been closed which is a great loss of food supply to the gulls.
A week of calm dry weather ahead hopefully.
Late News... Just got a photo of Peters skein of Pinks Over Norwood Green showing a massive 246 geese.
The ringed Herring gull on Soil Hill was 7 yrs old when ringed making it 15 years old now.
BS