A quiet morning then an afternoon twitch.

 

     Thornton                     Juv Mediterranean Gull  

                                         Looked very downy like a very young bird.

                                   Smokey pictures at distance in bad light and pouring rain.

                                          Yet another great find by Mark Pearson.

                                           Moved to another field.

Very windy at Fly Flatts this morning with a moderate SW>4 at 12 degrees with full cloud and damping in the wind.

                 A walk the full length of the west bank and a thorough scope of all the shores only produced 2 Common Sandpiper and 4 Oystercatcher, the latter probably being the family that bred at this site and seen recently at Ogden. All yesterdays Ringed Plovers had moved on and possibly the juv Dunlin also.

                  Around 7 Wheatear were on the shore along with 16 BH and 7 LBB gulls, otherwise it was just the usual species.

                  This morning MP text me to say some of the Thornton fields were cut and slurry was being spread, a good recipe for gulls. By late afternoon he had found a juv Med gull in among around 200 gulls. A quick dash over there in heavy rain found the gulls very flighty due to the strong wind so very difficult to pick out the bird. Mark got the gull in his scope and directed me onto it but 2 fields away and it soon moved off again.

                   Back home, then a call from Mark to say the Med gull had returned so it was another dash to Thornton for a second try. By now the weather was really grim with heavy rain driven by the wind and mist moving in.

                   Fortunately the gull had settled down about a third of the way into the field so I was able to get some photos in very dark light and a towel over the camera. By the time the bird flew to the next field Mark and me were dripping wet but worth it for another cracking gull, yet again found by MP.

BS

                

                    

Fly Flatts, Waders trickling in.

 

                                         Morning mist down in the Calder Valley

                                                       Wheatear , adult in moult.

                                             several islands appearing out in the water

                                                                distant Teal

                                       Another wave of Wheatear through

                                                    Adult in autumn plumage

Bright and clear up at the reservoir this morning with fog down in the valleys. A very light SW>2 with broken cloud and sunshine at 13 degrees.

                                            The south shore was alive with Wheatear slowly moving  through with a minimum count of 16 mainly adults. Just a few Lapwing on the near shore but no sign of waders so I had to walk the length of the west bank to the NW corner and scope across the water to the north shore muddy area.

                 This was where all the action was with 2 ad and 3 juv Ringed Plover as well as a Common Sandpiper, juv Dunlin and 2 Oystercatchers but all at great distance and all scope work. A single Teal was on the waters edge whilst 12 Black Headed and 4 LBB gull whilst 2 Herring headed >SE.

               Usually when the juv Ringed Plovers start arriving they bring Sanderling in with them and hopefully the next target birds of Greenshank, Green Sandpiper, Grey Plover and Ruff although watching is difficult now with such a large amount of shore ,with muddy pools and channels to scope.

BS

A bonus for Wednesdays Ogden report and todays birding.

 

Wednesdays Ogden Yellow Legged Herring gull. Thanks to MCs ever observant eye

for detail, the photos I took turned out to be 2 separate YL Herrings. As Mick pointed out,

the above gull has a light eye  and 4 white primary tips whilst the gull below has a dark eye, 

being slightly younger, plus 3 white primary tips, these show on one or the other blog pics.

                    Thanks to Mick for being so observant again.

Todays birding, well the luck had to run out sometime!!

                  A real foggy morning at Fly Flatts clearing slightly to heavy mist and constant rain throughout at 12 degrees on a light E>2.

                    The first morning for a long time with no waders present although no visibility to scope the north shore. Wheatear were the birds of the day with 9 , mainly adults in autumn plumage, ground hopping across the shore and disappearing south over the Flat Moor.

                    No Terns today , though conditions were right, and just 3 BH and 9 LBB gulls on the shore.

                   A mid afternoon gull check at Ogden found numbers well down with around 80 LBB,

7 Herring, c 50 Black Headed and 3 Common with no sign of Yellow Legged today. As always, a pleasure to meet DJS at Ogden as I was leaving.

                 With the wind away from the east and back to a light south, hopefully it will eliminate the morning fog.

BS

                    

Birds are like buses, none, then all come at once. Fly Flatts, (permit only)

 

                                                Several juv Black Headed gulls around.

                                                  juv Dunlin still present

                                         Ringed Plover seeing Dunlin off.

                                      Another special appeared through the fog.

                                                                Common Tern.

                                               Very distant in misty conditions.

A light E>1 bringing the usual drizzle and fog to Fly Flatts with visibility half way across the water then clearing but light mist at 12 degrees.

                             Meadow Pipits and Wheatears were active on the shore with at least 12 ,new in, Wheatear, mainly juvs. Very quiet on the wader front with just 2 Ringed Plover and the usual juv Dunlin.

          Too misty to scope the north shore for waders but several Black Headed gulls were flying around over the water with several juvs  in with them.

            Peering through the mist at the gulls I suddenly picked up one that made me think Tern as it disappeared back into the fog. A few minutes later it re appeared and showed just long enough to confirm my thoughts. 

               A quick change of position as the fog was lifting but no sign of the bird until I checked the buoys out on the water and there it was, sat on number 6 marker buoy, but a good distance away.

I waited about 30 minutes to get some flight shots but the bird stayed put, probably resting after a long flight.

         Terns are another scare bird at this site with usually one sighting a year. Last years sighting was a single Common Tern on the 24th July in exactly the same weather conditions, light E>1 and drizzle.

More drizzle for tomorrow and again on a light E>1 so watch those reservoirs. A Caspian gull was at Redcar Tarn today, (KM).

BS

Fly Flatts/ Ogden, A prize every time.

 

FLY FLATTS                             A mega for Fly Flatts, Little Ringed Plover

                                           1st for 2 years.

                                          juvenile

                                    Shore now showing 1000 yrs old tree stumps.

                                            1 Ringed Plover present

OGDEN                          2nd good bird of the day, Yellow Legged Herring gull

                                                Blast off

                                                16 Herring gull present

                                                       ad YL Herring, Michahellis

                                                    Common gull, LH

                                                            YL  and   LBB

                                                                  YL centre

                                                                    Common gull,  prob 2nd cycle.

A much fresher day with a damp foggy start at Fly Flatts on a moderate W>3 at 16 degrees.

The damp fog soon cleared leaving mist clouds over the moor but good visibility over the water.

                                  Some overnight movement with 3 Dunlin present and a bonus to get a single juv Little Ringed Plover, a very scarce species at Fly Flatts for some reason with usually 1 sighting a year of 1 or 2 birds but never staying. Last year produced none.

                                    A good display of gulls were on the north shore whilst 7 Wheatear were present along with several juv Lapwing but all the Curlews from the immediate area are gone.

                                    A gull check at Ogden mid afternoon gave me my second belter of the day with an adult Yellow Legged Herring gull, just about a month after my last one at this site.

                        A good count of LBB and Black Headed as well as 2 Common gull which are just slowly starting to return. A painstaking scan through the Black Headed failed to produce a Med gull.

                          A pair of Tufted were on the water whilst NKs 4 Oystercatchers from this morning were still present but all in the stones on the banking sleeping.

FLY FLATTS

1 Little Ringed Plover

1 Ringed Plover

3 Dunlin

12 juv Lapwing

7 Wheatear

2 Raven

31 LBB gull

12 BH gull

2 Herring gull

+ usual sp.

OGDEN

1 ad Yellow Legged Herring gull

2 Common gull

c 120 LBB gull

16 Herring gull

c 100 BH gull

1 pr Tufted

2 Cormorants

4 Oystercatchers

+ usual sp.

BS