The expected fog this morning cleared just before 0600 hrs but on arrival at the reservoir found conditions nearly as bad as the fog, with full clear blue skies and sunshine on a light E>2 at 10 degrees. A nice morning to be out walking the west bank but certainly not a birding morning for Fly Flatts.
Very quiet throughout with just the usual waders, a single Raven, plus a drake Teal on the north bank. Plenty Swallows around now but very few Swifts. Near impossible to scope the distant shore now with the return of the photographers enemy, heat shimmer though hopefully by after the weekend the water will be down enough for me to access the east bank to check the north east area and the peninsular, which is already starting to show .
May ,so far this year, has been the worst on record for Fly Flatts due to several mornings of fog plus the high water level with very poor counts of Dunlin which should be up to double figures now but with the lack of shore they are tending to stop a day and then move on.
Fly Flatts is at its best in springtime when I can usually depend on getting my best counts of waders and a good variety of species, then drops off, wader wise, by the end of July with very few waders stopping off on their autumn return journey. Hopefully this year it will work in reverse.
Not a promising forecast for Fly Flatts with a week of low wind, dry, and sunny.
BS