Some very dark clouds at Fly Flatts early doors but these moved over with some cloudy but brighter sky brought in on the NW>3. An odd sharp sight of the sun at 6 degrees.
Work is stopped up at Fly Flatts for the moment for some reason so I managed to get in this morning and have a good check around.
Another male Ringed Plover has joined the pair, which is exactly what happened last year on the 26th, before the first arriving male finally moved the other male on. This morning I thought it was displaying to the female but it was actually showing aggression towards the other male.
A walk of the west bank found very little other than 2 Herring gulls >NE and a distant Raven on a fence post. The water just held the usual Canadas and Mallard whilst a single Curlew was heard but not seen, which is just in contrast to the large count at Leeshaw, though 2 Oyks were present.
Back at the compound 4 Reed Bunting were very mobile and whilst I was watching these 3 geese came high over the Nab from the east to drop down in the NE corner. A surprise to see 3 Barnacle geese which I believe to be movers rather than the usual 1 and sometimes 2 from Cold Edge. These 3 were very aggressive towards the Canadas, something that the resident Barnacle never shows. It was January 2013 when 44 dropped into Leeshaw causing quite a stir with the local Bradford birders.
A good count of small gulls at Wainstalls but nothing unusual among them.
BS