Bright and breezy at Fly Flatts this morning with full cloud cover on a moderate W>5 at 6 degrees with light drizzle showers but good visibility.
Hectic from the word go , starting off with a Peregrine chasing a Woodpigeon as I pulled up in the compound. The Woodie dropped down behind the clubhouse and the Pere continued over the building and my car disappearing over the flat moor. When I walked passed the clubhouse the Woodie was hiding in the porchway but flew off to see another day. Peregrine is one bird I don't want to see up here.
A second surprise was a record count for this site of 14 Oystercatchers on the east bank along with the 2 summer breeders. They were constantly harassed by passing gulls but always re-located on the banking. The maximum I have had together at Fly Flatts is 10 but Leeshaw is the best spot for this species where I've had a count of 37.
Fly Flatts is usually poor for gulls but this morning saw a steady flow >NE of 12 Herring gull, 26 Black Headed and 6 Common, the latter being a rare sight here.
Otherwise, I had a single Stonechat, Raven and Curlew as well as the usual Canadas.
Tomorrows weather could go either way with rain forecast for p.m. on a strong sou'wester which hopefully will keep the fog away.
BS