Views around Fly Flatts from Sunday.

                 No, not a tidal estuary, Fly Flatts  SE corner

                      Come on you Waders

                                 A birders dream

                      Stone footways starting to show se corner

                            SW corner with the Nab in the background.

                                       NW  corner

                                 Everything but the birds now

      Looking west over Dean Head Reservoir,
        Stoodley Pike on the horizon.

        Twite feeding station, plenty seed down, no Twite.

                                    Heather in full bloom

                                  Beautiful countryside.
 Shame it will be tarnished next week with sad little men trudging all over it shooting owt that moves.

Old Guy Rd a.m. pre work
The cricket field was lively with
3m Pied Wagtails
2f Pied Wagtails
9 Juv Pied Wagtails
8 Meadow Pipit
2 Skylark
Few BH and LBB gulls over >W
Still no Wheatear.

Queensbury south, dinner hour
5 Lapwing in car boot field
4 BH gulls c50 Starling, trailer park field
2 Grey Partridge, Corporal Lane
1 Little Owl, usual spot
14 Magpies, Green Lane in favourite Holly bush.
1 Kestrel fast and low, Deanstones Lane bottom.
BS

A good outcome

    Distant, out of range shots but a record. Local Buzzards

                                                Juvenile waiting for food

                                                 Here it comes

                                                     In to land but no grub

                                                 Juv calling noisily

                                         Gone for another go

                      Patiently waiting

A quick check on local Buzzards today found a success story with a noisy juv wanting feeding.

After a weekend with no Swifts one came over the house this evening >SW
BS

Ogden teatime sortie

                                 Robin heavily in moult

                                              Juv Grey Wagtail.

A half hour teatime visit to Ogden found it much the same as previous visits with the lack of Common Sandpiper but a newcomer in the form of a juv Gt Crested Grebe. This was reported to me by Bradshaw John who I was lucky enough to bump into in the car park.
By the time I got to the water it had either gone or was tucked away somewhere near the west shore.
The best I could manage was 1 adult and 1 juv Grey Wagtail, 1 heavily moulting Robin plus the usual gulls, geese and Mallards.
Nice to meet you John.
BS

Wall to Wall Wheatears, Fly Flatts

                                       Shoreline littered with Wheatear

                   All in full autumn  plumage

                                 Several scraggy juveniles

           A surprise to get a Kestrel sat on the shoreline

 Fly Flatts  0700-1000hrs  Blasting SSW >6 gusting 7. Dry, some sunshine.

Fly Flatts was alive this morning with a fresh fall of Wheatear all very mobile which is the norm for new birds in. All dressed in clean cut autumn plumage with several raggy juvs inamongst.
Most were in the SE corner where the shoreline is now exposed almost to the point it was a few years ago when the waders piled in.
31 were counted though there were several more around the rocks on the moor.
A Kestel was sat amongst them on the shoreline but unfortunately it saw me before I saw it.
Scoping the far east shore was near impossible in the wind but I did pick out several Lapwing, 2 Common Sandpiper and a single Oystercatcher.  The blue skies were empty.
BS

Ogden, p.m. visit

                                                           Juv LBB gull

                                    Juvenile B H gull

                                Younger juv BH gull

                          Adult BH gull moulting hood

                                             Adult LBB gull

                                   Ample Shoreline

Once again today the clock beat me so just time for a late afternoon trip to Ogden after the torrential rain showers.
Things looked poor till I firstly picked up a juv LBB on the shoreline in with the Black Headed gulls, followed by an adult LBB gull further along the shore with another 2 out on the water.
The Black Headed gulls , which are taken for granted and overlooked , are worth a study at this time of year with a wide range of different ageing plumage.
On near passerine alley a BH gull was noisily mobbing a wader at the edge of the water which turned out to be a Common Sandpiper but try as I may I could not get a shot of it as it kept mobile up and down the shoreline always part hidden with the high edges and trees.
Bags of shoreline so hopefully something else will be dropping in over the weekend.
BS

Another Dinnertime Dash to Ogden

                           Usual juv Cormorant

  Black Headed gulls almost out of summer plumage now.

                                   

                                             Quiet waters

Always plenty activity round the feeding area.

Once again with a bank of drizzle over at midday it was a dash to Ogden in my lunch break to see if anything had dropped out of the sky..
The picture was much the same as the last visit apart from a greater number of LBB gulls. Again only time to scan from the promenade but nothing unusual on the water or around the shoreline.
11 LBB gulls were present on the water as well as the usual juv Cormorant.

Mid afternoon at work around 15 noisy BH gulls appeared from nowhere chasing a Sparrowhawk above the car park.
BS