Another coat of looking at , Fly Flatts.

                     Common Sandpipers galore

                                   juv Pied Wagtail

                                 Noisy Oystercatchers

                                           Common Sand

                                     Curlews have bred well

1530 hrs Fly Flatts. W>4 with 75 % cloud cover and some sunshine. Luckily more grey sky than blue.
        Much more workable today with the wind eased to force 4 so managed to check the full length of  the reservoir along the west bank as well as scope the east shoreline.
Common Sandpipers were everywhere with several young waiting to be fed. Due to very little shoreline this species has had to adapt to nesting on the edges of the moor away from the water.
                                                                 Amazing to see just how many birds are on the moor when 4 Herring gulls flew over Redshank, Curlew, Lapwing, Common Sandpiper and Dunlin lifted up out of the heather to see the gulls clear.
A juv Pied Wagtail was on the shoreline closely watched by the 2 adult birds whilst a Raven flew high over the wind turbines.
                                           Disappointingly the skies were quiet but thats June for you although there were plenty Swifts moving through skimming the water.
A rough goose count came up with 28 Greylag + 18 juvs and 278 Canadas with 57 juvs but many more in the fields along the top road.

15 Common Sandpipers
3 Dunlin
5 Redshank
6 Curlew
1pr Pied Wagtail + 1 juv
1 ad Grey Wagtail
1 Raven
4 Oystercatcher
4 Herring gull
22 Greylag + 18 juv
278 Canada + 57 juv but well under counted.
2 bags of Nyjer seed a week now in the hopes of post breeding Twite.
BS

Fly Flatts

                                      Plenty Common Sandpipers present

                                  in the shoreline foam

    Had to take these pics in the same setting as I take
   Snow Buntings in the snow at to stop
                 the camera blinkies.

                                    Tides coming in

             Rolling waves and white horses

                            Shoreline disappearing.

       Common Sandpiper in to land.
    Fast shutter speed 1/1250.  F7.1   ISO 1000 at 600mm

                        Curlew low over the water

  The leg ringed Barnacle from Cold Edge Dams

  These 2 seemed to have paired up and are now
  resident at Fly Flatts.

                                       1 of 5 Oystercatchers.

1515 hrs Fly Flatts.  Dark rolling clouds, 100% cloud cover on a strong >W>6 decreasing W>4.
                                                            Ideal conditions once the wind had decreased slightly but once again the light was changing by the minute with black clouds rolling over from the west.
The water was very rough and the SE shoreline just hanging on but much more heavy rain and it will be gone.
             One of the best years for a while for Common Sandpiper with at least 8 counted just from the SE corner to  part way on the west bank. Just the one brief sighting of Dunlin with a fly over dropping down on the moor. Other waders were 5  Oystercatchers, 2 Redshank and 4 Curlew, whilst a male Reed Bunting was briefly on the nyjer seed with 2 Grey Wagtails nearby.
                                                           Two of the 3 Cold Edge Dams Barnacle geese seem to have set up residence permanently above the boathouse now, the third bird not being reported for a while. Other than that 7 sub adult Herring gulls were on and around the water with all the usual species present. One heart stopping moment when all the Curlews and Lapwings went up together but I never found what spooked them, another Osprey was flashing through my mind but not to be.
                                                                     Unbelievable that once again, in perfect conditions, not a single Tern of any description through with so many Black Terns within 30 minutes flying time away.
                                                                    A customer today told me his 12 year old son had become keen on nature and birding so he was starting to take him round some local areas to see if he gets the bug. I told him thats good news as local birders are rapidly in danger of becoming extinct with a fall over the last 20 years from around 100 active birders in Bradford/ Calderdale to around 10 on the top side now.
On the up side, K.M. had another 2 Yellow Legged Herring gulls at Redcar Tarn yesterday and 2 LBBs with leg rings.
BS

Oxenhope Reservoir. pm

                                  Gulls struggling for shoreline

                                                   Lesser Black Backed

                                 Gulls way across in the SW corner

                                             Several Herring gulls

                         100s of Swifts over the water

                                         Grey Wagtail.

                                          The last of the shoreline.

1530 hrs at Oxenhope reservoir and the second disappointment of the day with all the shoreline now gone.
I had to take refuge in the car as I arrived for 15 minutes with a torrential downpour but that soon passed over leaving it bright but very windy on a SW>6 gusting 7. Around 150 gulls were present as far away as possible in the SW corner cramped together on the grass bank with all their regular shoreline gone. This must be due to YW topping it up as we have,nt had enough rain since my last visit to fill it to the brim.
                                        Waders were down to 1 Common Sandpiper and 1 Dunlin very mobile with limited places to land whilst a Little Ringed Plover that was showing interest in an area of shoreline recently has been washed out and moved on.
                                           The long walk down to the hide proved worthwhile where I could scope the gulls out of the wind standing behind the hide which revealed 11 Herring gull and one adult Yellow Legged Herring gull , its bright legs standing out as it stood on the banking. Whilst deciding to walk further down in hope of a picture the whole flock lifted up and dispersed >E probably to the Eccup roost. That left me with nothing to do but practice photographing Swifts of which there were around 100 over the water.
                                           If YW keep this water level up as it is now its going to be a poor July/August for wader sightings, hopefully they,ll drop over the Nab to Fly Flatts.

138 LBB gull
11 Herring gull
1 ad YL Herring gull
1 Dunlin
1 Common Sandpiper
100 + Swift
1 Pied Wagtail
1 Grey Wagtail
Canadas, Greylags and Mallards all with young.
BS

Redcar Tarn

                                           young Coot

                                         A hot spot for Tufted

 Showing how fine focusing is at 600mm
Top shot focused on rear bird
Bottom shot focused on front bird.

    Plenty birds in surrounding fields but
                      nothing special.

Early doors at Redcar Tarn in a mixture of sunshine and cloud on a strong SW>5.
As soon I parked up I had that feeling I had chosen the wrong venue with the water quiet other than the usual residents and very few gulls present.
                                                                         The dogs enjoyed a couple of circuits of the water by which time more gulls were starting to appear but apart from a couple of juv Herrings the rest were LBBs and BHGs.
Plenty Swallows and Swifts were over the water whilst the young Oystercatcher was still present with the adult birds across the road, an area that is hard to bird now due to long grass and dried up scrapes.
Good to bump into NP up there doing the rounds.
BS

None Birding Day, Withdrawal symptoms setting in.

With a child minding session today the tea time birding session went out of the window.
It sounds like it has been a quiet day with no reports or text messages coming in.

To make a blog up these are a few highlights for last month, May, showing local birding has its moments.

1st  Marsh Harrier......................Leeshaw
       Little Ringed Plover
      Teal

1st  3 Dotterel
      21 Golden Plover...............Nolstar field

2nd  2 Greenland Wheatear.....Fly Flatts

2nd 3 Dotterel.........................Nolstar field
     
5th  6 Dunlin
       8 Common Sandpiper.......Fly Flatts

7th  1 Cuckoo........................Leeshaw

7th 26 Golden Plover...........Nolstar field

9th  14 Common Sandpiper....Fly Flatts

14th  Whimbrel
         3 LRP..........................Leeshaw

16th  8 Dunlin......................Fly Flatts

17th  4 Cuckoo...................Leeshaw

18th  8 Shelduck..............Mixenden

21st   1 Ringed Plover......Leeshaw

25th  8 Dunlin...............Fly Flatts

26th Cuckoo
         1f Stonechat.........Fly Flatts

27th  2 Common Sandpiper.....Ogden

29th  1 Ringed Plover
          5 Dunlin....................Fly Flatts

30th   Osprey....................Fly Flatts

31st   4 Shelduck.............Fly Flatts
BS

Leeshaw res and another Yellow Legged Herring gull

                      Young Curlew on walk about

Seemed to have got itself lost walking along the road

                                 Oystercatcher count up to 9 + 1 chick

                                  Out of range but Herring on the right,
                                                        YL Herring on the left.

1530 hrs Leeshaw reservoir in sunshine and a brisk SW>4-5.
                                                  With several gulls on the far shore but towards the western end a scope through them produced 15 Lesser Black Backed, 1 2nd year Herring gull and 1 2nd year Yellow Legged Herring gull, the latter being a different bird to the last Yellow Legged, this one not having leg rings.  The last bird with a blue leg ring was ringed in Denmark but no area or dates as too distant to read numbers. Hopefully the Yellow Legged gull which visits Leeshaw each year June/ July will appear soon and by now should be near full adult plumage.
                                                                  As I arrived a young Curlew was running up and down the roadside looking very lost but eventually it got back into a field where the adult bird was calling.
Two Oystercatchers were very noisy protecting a chick with the Oystercatcher count of adult birds up to 9. Four Black Headed gulls were harassing the Lapwings which were having a full time job looking after their chicks.
Otherwise it was down to the usual species but once again a profitable visit.
Nice to bump into RP and have a chat by the reservoir.

1 Yellow Legged Herring gull
1 Herring Gull
15 Lesser Black backed
4 Black Headed
9 Oystercatcher + 1 Chick
2 Redshank
1 LRP
1 juv Curlew
1 Cormorant
4 Stock Dove
+ usual sp.
BS

Fly Flatts.

 Yes I know, more Common Sandpipers, but not a
               lot of choice today.

        Dark clouds approaching from the west

                                       A good count of Curlew.

Fly Flatts 1530 -1700 hrs. Strong SW>5 gusting 6 with a mixture of sunshine and showers, the showers being torrential.
                                          A photographers nightmare today with one minute blue skies and sunshine, the next as black as night. the torrential showers appearing from nowhere but only lasting around 10 minutes a time. A lot of the shoreline is now submerged but still enough to hold waders.
Amazing to watch a hardy windsurfer out on the water in such conditions nearly breaking the sound barrier as he raced from one end of the water to the other at a great rate of knots. How they hold on to those things I,ll never know, even the torrential rain did,nt ground him.
                                                              A lot of wader activity but everything flighty in the conditions and only the usual species present. Curlews are back in good numbers now that the chicks are out with 8 adults in the air together by the top gate as I left, obviously spooked by something over the moor.
Very little in the sky other than Herring and LBB gulls although conditions were perfect for, Terns, Kittiwakes and Little gull but not tonight Josephine.
                                                 A feeding party of around 50 Swifts moved through between showers slowly heading >N whilst all gull movement was >SW into the wind.
The rain is forecast for a few days yet so the reservoir watch continues.
Many thanks to blog watcher Charlie Streets for the kind comment he put on yesterdays blog.

11 Curlew
4 Redshank
1 Dunlin
3 Snipe
4 Golden Plover
6 Herring gull
14 LBB gull
c50 Swift
+ usual sp.
BS