An icy cold start to the morning with a W>4 at 4 degrees and cloudy sunshine.
With the last two days at Leeshaw and track repairs ongoing at Fly Flatts this morning I decided, in a moment of madness, to try Ogden to see if I could get my first Chiffchaff of the year. Bad move.
Even at 0800 hrs the car park was near full and the waterside track was over-run with off lead dogs and joggers. With the amount of disturbance birds were near non existent with just 2 Treecreepers plus the usual Robins, Tits etc. The water just held 2 Canadas, 2 Black Headed gull and 4 Herring plus the usual Mallards. By 0915 hrs the cafe was opening and an ice cream van in the car park so time to get out of there. Unfortunately now, Ogden is a place for the public, not the birder. On the plus side, there is a decent amount of shore showing which could hold a wader or two.
A check down Taylor Lane on the way back was a bit more productive with 12 Mipits, 8 Stock Dove and my first Linnet of the year.
A brighter day tomorrow with a slight rise in temperature but a WSW wind reaching gale force.
BS