On Wigeon watch, Ogden

 Plenty small gulls favouring the west shore

                                     Down to 3 Cormorant

                                        1 Little Grebe still present

With several Wigeon on the move I thought Ogden worth a try with plenty grazing shore to go at but after a good scan around I came up with a blank.
The ad Gt Crested Grebe is still present along with 1 Little Grebe but no Canadas tonight.
Around 80 BHGs, 25 Commons and 7 LBBs on the gull scene and again no Passerines other than Robins and Chaffinch.
As well as Long Tailed Tit, Treecreeper seems to have disappeared as I have,nt had one now for 18 months whereas they were once common around the perimeter of the water.
                                                                 Plenty Swallows >SW in migration mode over the village today.
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Ogden p.m.

 Sub adult Yellow Legged gull, probably an Oxenhope res bird
 moved due to lack of shoreline up there.

   Record count of Canadas with 83

                      1 of 3 Cormorant

                                    Adult Gt Crested Grebe

           Sub adult Lesser Black Backed still
                        retaining pink legs.

An interesting hour at Ogden which started off quiet then improved throughout.
A check on the promenade first hoping that the Kingfishers had returned to the sluice gate area post breeding but not to be.
A scan through the gulls on the east shoreline from the promenade found around 60 small gulls, mainly BHGs with 9 LBBs and a single Herring gull which stood out away from the other big gulls in amongst the Black Headeds. 3 Cormorant were also on the shore with another 2 in the water and one on the depth gauge.
As I walked around to investigate the Herring gull the single Canada goose present started making a load of noise and a minute later everyone looked up to see what was happening when a mass of noisy Canadas came in over the trees from the east landing on the water. Some headed for the west shore whilst others moved across to the east muddy shore line with a count of 83 all together.
                                                            By now I,d got to the gull area to find the Herring was a sub adult Yellow Legged , possible one of the TMR birds dropped in due to lack of shoreline up there.
Passerines were sparse but I caught up to the Chaffinch flock of around 20 working their way along the west shoreline.
Where have all the Long Tailed Tits got to this year ?
BS

Oxenhope reservoir, members only

   Lapwings on the last remaining shore

        NW corner holds the only remaining shore.

A disappointment today on a late afternoon visit to Oxenhope to find all but the NW corner shoreline submerged after the recent heavy rain. The gulls were still able to stand on the shore so it must only be just under the surface and hopefully will show again soon.
43 Lapwing were on the remaining shore at the NW corner but no sign of recent Greenshank or other waders.
Around 500 gulls were present, 75% of which were LBBs, the others BHGs along with 8 Herring gulls. Around another 200 mixed gulls were in the field off Long Causeway.
Good to meet up with DCB, who was on sky watch from Sentry Hill, and have a good chat.
BS

Redcar Tarn

      Mega distant shot of 9 Snipe at far end
           of field on Tarn Lane.

                                  16 juv LBBs present

   1 of 7 Tufted looking fresh in.

                                                   LBB

                                                      LBB

  juv Mediterranean gull flying round

                                       and on the water

                                     Tufteds sticking to the middle

A foggy start up on the tops and heavy drizzle made me head for Redcar Tarn which had clear visibility but some heavy rain showers but at least it kept the public at bay apart from the dedicated dog walkers and 3 anglers.
7 Tufted duck were in the centre of the water looking like fresh in movers resting up ,whilst a good count of 16 juv LBB gulls were present before dwindling down to 5. Otherwise it was just the usual BHGs, Moorhen, Coot, Mallards, Canadas etc
After about 30 minutes the juv Med gull arrived doing a few circuits of the water before dropping down onto the water but keeping near to the island.
Over the road in the dug up field there were around 150 Lapwings and 9 Snipe which unfortunately kept to the rear of the field around a small pond and out of camera range.
A flock of c30 Linnets were mobile.
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Thwarted by the fog.

Heavy rain from late morning throughout the day getting heavier by late afternoon so it was full waterproofs for the planned trip to Oxenhope Reservoir. The rain I can live with but when the fog came down that really put the mockers on things so with the Greenshank search abandoned it was drop below the cloud base to Ogden in the hopes something had dropped out of the sky.
                                                 On arrival it was murky and grey with the cloud base just hanging on the tree tops and the only thing that had dropped out of the sky was water, tons of it, coming down in stair rods, but waterproofed up and ever the optimist I set off walking round the water.
Gulls were down to around 40 small gulls and 2 LBBs whilst 4 Cormorants were on the shoreline.
No sign of yesterdays Tufted or Little Grebe.
The Chaffinch flock were still attacking the shoreline weeds by passerine alley, numbering around 20,
whilst further along on the muddy shoreline  a good find of 9 Grey Wagtails working their way along the banking, these obviously being brought down movers, shame they were,nt Yellows.
                                                                        Amazing that with all the shoreline showing not 1 wader in sight. Clifford Lees, Hx Scentific Society, years ago told us that Ogden would never be any good for waders as the surrounding trees made them feel like they were dropping into a trap and I believe he was right.

       Looks good on the shoreline but did,nt get any better.

             Low cloud base hugging the plantation.

BS.

Ogden p.m.

  Lesser Black Backed still in full summer plumage
                       sub adult 3rd summer.

   Drake Tufted back just coming out of eclipse

                       1 of 2 Little Grebe

   7 at Ogden Sept 2013.

                                5 Cormorant present

                A different bird from the other day.
 This I would say British( Carbo)

                                            1 juv Carbo !

   Facial drawings sent by MC splitting British
                              from Continental.  Thanks Mick.

Limited time today with Lyndas 3 monthly hospital check which went ok so an hour at Ogden pm to find passerine alley quiet in the WNW> 5 keeping the insects at bay.About 15 Chaffinch were up and down from the Willows onto the shoreline.
JL reported a Little Grebe earlier today and this evening 2 were present along with a drake Tufted which is possibly the usual visitor. The Grebes kept at distance in the far NW corner and were diving continuously.
Around 80 BH gulls, 4 LBBs and 8 Common were present along with 5 Cormorant, 1 being a juv.

A text from KM this evening reporting a different Greenshank at Oxenhope reservoir with coloured leg rings. Thanks for that Keith.
BS

Talk about cutting it fine, 5 minutes from a dip. Fly Flatts, Oxenhope reservoir, members only.

Fly Flatts.

                   19 Wheatears showing at Fly Flatts

Oxenhope Reservoir

                             

            Greenshank at last.

                   2 Greenshank in the background

           Hidden behind this lot. just to the left of centre
                                if you click to enlarge.

            Mega out of range shots at 260x

With Lynda having a non dog lover friend calling this afternoon I took the dogs out of the way and headed for Fly Flatts hoping for something on the water but not to be. Its as if there,s an invisible wall over the Nab stopping birds from passing with Oxenhope alive all the time and Fly Flatts 2 minutes over the hill this afternoon had empty sky and empty water. Luckily Wheatears kept me active with a count of 19 along the top road and down the north track to the ponds.

To make matters worse a phone call from Keith Moir reporting a Greenshank just over the Nab at Oxenhope reservoir but with no dogs allowed I,d to sit that one out but planned on going around 1800 hrs after Sainsbury duties.  On the way home a text from KM reporting 2 Greenshank and a Ringed Plover now at Oxenhope so that was it, a dash home with the dogs and back to Oxenhope knowing that with the clear skies the waders would,nt hang about for long.

Not having time for locked gates I left the car outside and dashed along the track, scrambled across the conduit and scaled the banking to the reservoir wall to see around 800+ gulls, where do you start?

Luckily as I scoped the first lot of gulls half way along the shoreline 2 birds could just be seen behind the sea of gulls which at first I thought were Lapwing having their heads tucked in but as they started to move they were the target birds, Greenshank.

After 5 minutes trying to get some acceptable record shots, though well out of range, I scrolled through the pics I,d taken to see how they were and when I looked back for the birds they were gone.

The gulls were still present but the Greenshank had quietly slipped away, possible to the far end of the reservoir but a good scoping failed to re located them so it looks as though I got them with 5 minutes to spare.

Many thanks to KM for his call and well spotted amongst all the gulls, they could quite easily have been missed and gone through undetected.

A report from AC this afternoon of the Lapwing flock starting to return to Shelf Moor with 20 birds present. Hopefully a better year this year with a decline in numbers over the last few years.

2011....300+

2012....185

2013....278

2014....148

2015....125

BS