West is Best, Shelduck for Fly Flatts

                    Mega distant Short Eared Owl

                                            Usual waders present, Redshank.

                                               Dunlin

                                   Last minute visitors, 5 Shelduck

                                 Coming in from the NE

                                          Coming down to land

                                             Plenty Swifts through >N

Perfect conditions with the favoured W>3 and 80 % cloud cover.
                                                   Just the usual waders etc but everything active with skies full of gulls , Curlews and Lapwings. A Short Eared Owl was quartering the moor at distance whilst a Merlin shot through high and fast. Several Swifts headed >N.
                                                 Just packing up when a final scan produced 5 Shelduck coming in from the NE , doing a circuit then dropping down onto the water at the north end.

5 Shelduck
2 Oystercatchers
4 Redshank
5 Common Sandpiper
1 Dunlin
1 Merlin
3 Kestrel
3 Raven
1 SEO
8 Curlew
26 big gulls, mainly Herring.
sev Swifts
BS

Fly Flatts/ Slaughter Gap/ Cold Edge north end/ Mixenden Reservoir. p.m.

First stop was Fly Flatts in an icy cold WNW>4 but plenty sunshine. Unfortunately , several Bank Holiday Barmpots were down by the shoreline in the se and sw corners along with dog walkers on the banking plus a few bikes so a quick change of plan and headed on to the north end to walk down the track to the water. Looking down there several other people had got the same idea so with plan A  and B scuppered it was back to Slaughter Gap in hopes of Redstart, Ring Ouzel , Cuckoo and of course Dotterel in the Nolstar fields. Unfortunately I came away with a 4 out of 4 dip having found neither of the target birds.
                                        Admittedly I did,nt go down to the Redstart area as well as the Ring Ouzel tree but just scanned from half way down as the area you walk through was full of cows so I did,nt think it wise to venture through there with 3 dogs in tow. The dogs would be no bother but theres something about cows where dogs seem to wind them up and get their backs up and I didnt fancy running up Slaughter Gap with a herd of wild beasts on my tail.   I came away with a single Raven, 3 Wheatear, a few Mipits and a distant Buzzard.
                                     Next was a walk down the track opposite, by Nolstar, to look over the north east corner of Cold Edge Dams where there are several Hawthorn bushes but only a single Willow Warbler and a handful of Mipits around the area although there were plenty Swallows overhead.
                                    A stop off of Mixenden reservoir just produced a pair of Tufted duck on the water along with around 60 mixed Sand and House Martin low over the surface. With a poor afternoon behind me I thought it best if I called it a do and tried with a fresh start in the morning so by 1545 hrs I was home tending the garden.
                                   No news on CKs TMR Avocet from yesterday and unfortunately it was,nt waiting for me at Fly Flatts this morning. I know this has nothing what so ever to do with me but I find it very disappointing , and an insult to Chris, that his report, of what will be the bird of the year and the best Bradford bird found for many years, has not even made the Bradford blog with the weekends reports being a walk round St Ives and birding at Stockbridge. Other than that not a single comment for his achievement on my blog .
                                Going back years , when a bird such as this came to light  , there was a mass exodus of birders dashed to the location to see it and it was talked about for weeks, even years after but not anymore. Sadly this seems to be the way local birding is now going.
BS

Fly Flatts a.m.

                                                       Gulls on the shoreline

                                                   Single Oystercatcher

                                                      4 Dunlin present

A cold but calm morning with 100% cloud cover on a light WNW>3.
                                           Much the same as the last few visits with gull numbers slowly building through the watch with 44 mixed Herring and LBBs taking their toll on the goslings and ducklings.
Already several Greylag and Canada goslings have gone and 2 pairs of Mallard have lost all their ducklings in 2 days which started with a family of 8 and 12.
                                         On a brighter note Dunlin are back to 4 along with 13 Common Sandpipers and 4 Redshank. A Cuckoo was calling down in the valley towards Dean Head.
BS.

Fly Flatts p.m. and an Avocet tuther side at t' Nab

A very poor late afternoon watch with dark cloudy skies, occasional hail showers and an icy cold N>5 at 4 degrees but feeling much colder in the wind chill.
                                                                  As this morning all the birds were pinned down in the shelter of the north bank with Common Sandpipers, Redshank and a single Oystercatcher scurrying across the mud with just 4 Common Sands, 2 Redshank and 2 Dunlin on the south shore.
                                                                     About half of this mornings gulls were on the water in the NW corner whilst a few Herring gulls were overhead travelling >NE. A single male Wheatear and 2 male Reed Bunting completed the show.
                                                                  The wind and temperature were so bad that the junior sailing afternoon had to be cancelled which must have been a disappointment for the youngsters on what was going to be the first day of their season and especially as they are rapidly running out of water.
          Birding around here could be a bit awkward tomorrow with bikes all over the shop and several road closures so may have to get the 3 dogs and camera gear on a bike so they will let me through.

And just to show its not all gloom and doom today heres a real belter of a report.
Chris King went up to his patch at TMR ( BOG members only) this morning in search of  a Cuckoo and had to make do with an AVOCET which he turned up by the water and then re located it shortly afterwards where it remained until at least lunch time.
                                                          This is only the 2nd ever sighting of Avocet in the Bradford area, the other being in the drained reservoir at Horton Bank Top 29/04/1995, one which myself and many other birders were privileged to see.
A cracking find by Chris, a fitting reward for all the time and effort he puts into TMR, an area which is seldom watched now, probably, as with Fly Flatts, due to its position catching all the worst of the weather. Hopefully tomorrow it will fly over the Nab to Fly Flatts !!

                                       Photos courtesy Chris King.

Who me, jealous !!!!!!
BS

Fly Flatts a.m.

                An unusually high count of big gulls for here.

                           160 + lined the distant north shore

          Mainly Herrings and all mainly 1st years and sub adults

                                        1 of 2 Dunlin present

A bright sunny morning but nearly unworkable in the icy cold 2 degrees strong N>5 gusting 6.
Hard to even stand up on the shoreline and near impossible to scope into the wind.
                                     For a place that rarely gets gulls it was amazing to have a count of 160 + with 75% Herring and 25% Lesser Black Backed nearly all being first year birds or sub adults. Its a very hard time for the geese , ducks and Lapwings with chicks with such an amount of gulls present.
                                      Wader wise, most were at the north end in the lee of the wind with just a few Common Sands, Redshanks and 2 Dunlin present. A single Buzzard flew low over the moor,
BS

Fly Flatts, p.m.

                                     Redshank a common sight now

                   Up to 14 Common Sandpiper present

                                          7 Dunlin present out of the 15.

                                    Acres of shoreline at the south end.

                                         Several islands and spits showing.

Good clear conditions at Fly late afternoon which 100 % light cloud cover, some fine drizzle and a light NE>2.
                  The skies were disappointingly quiet with just a few Herring and Lesser Black Backed gulls over whilst 6 Herrings and 14 LBBs were lined up on the north shore waiting for an opportune
time for a chick or egg to be left unprotected.
                   Common Sandpipers were everywhere and very active in the cooler temperatures along with Redshank but a thorough scope of all the bankings, without the problem of heat shimmer, failed to find the Dunlin flock and it was,nt until I was tackling up that 2 dropped in to the south shore which made me set up again for a few distant shots.
                                                              On the way back I pulled over by the Nolstar field to check for Dotterel and as I stopped a Cuckoo flew over the front of the car from the direction of Cold Edge and disappeared from view down Slaughter Gap. Lower down the road I stopped again seeing a small bird flitting around an old hen hut but it turned out to be a Robin and not a Black Redstart as hoped.
                                                            The old hen hut reminded me of when I was a lad and we used to keep hens for eggs and breeding chicks. We made our own huts which were known as en oiles and in the side of the hut was a trapdoor so the hens could get in and out during the day to lay and then at night we would close the trapdoor to keep foxes out, this trapdoor was known as a bob oile in Queensbury talk.
                          My dad once sent me down to the handyman shop to get a catch for the bob oile. The assistant looked at me blank so I explained " its a catch for a bob oile in an en oile". Still looking blank the shop owner appeared, who was a Queensbury chap, and got me exactly what I wanted.
That was in the days when you could go in there and buy a pund of clart hearded nails.
                       I threw this true tale in for Keighley Moor birder James Longbottom who e mailed me saying he and his Dad enjoyed reading a bit of Yorkshire dialect.  Theres plenty more where that came from James.
BS

Leeshaw Reservoir

With a thick blanket of fog over the tops I headed for Leeshaw which was below the cloud base but very grey and drizzly with some heavy showers.
                                                                Plenty activity with the Lapwings and Curlews, several with young now, but apart from Redshank and Oystercatcher the only other wader was a single Common Sandpiper on the far shore.  A Merlin darted through putting everything up whilst 2 Kestrel were over the moor and 2 Red Legged Partridge in the field.
BS

Fly Flatts, am/pm.

Dark clouds and rain showers at Fly Flatts today  on a cold NE>4-5.
                                                            Quiet at the south end both morning and afternoon watches with the cold wind seeming to pin the waders down under the shelter of the north east banking with just a few Redshank and Common Sandpipers using the SE corner.
                                                              Scoping from the east most point of the boat yard I could see the shoreline was alive with Common Sandpipers and Redshank with the highlight being a group of 15 Dunlin spread along the mud and occasionally flying fast and low over the north edge of the water, estuary style, before settling again. A great sight to see but unfortunately too far off even for Big Bertha to get any decent shots.
                                               Last year I could easily scan and photograph all the east bank from across the water but now that I cannot use the west bank it leaves me struggling as the angle from the boatyard to the east bank cuts out a lot of the bays and gulleys where the waders get, plus the distance is much greater.
                         Despite efforts to keep water in until September seems to have been scrapped as I have not seen the team of Ornithologists up there since and I have just received an e mail from Bentleys saying work is commencing next month and the whole area is to be shut down. I have to attend a site meeting with them to gain access and get their health and safety rules but its not looking good on the birding scene with serious disturbance around the bankings and with no water all the young unfledged goslings and ducklings will be in trouble with 43 Herring gulls and 8 Crows present today.
Other than that, the sailing club season has had to come to an abrupt end before its even got started ,much earlier than expected.
BS

A better afternoon, Fly Flatts

                                  8 Dunlin showing this p.m.

                                            Dunlin and Common Sandpipers

                                          Dunlin wing stretching

                                                     A busy shoreline

            Breeding plumage

                                1st year non breeder.

A much livelier late afternoon watch with 100 % cloud cover and a light W>3.
                                                                The Dunlins that were missing this morning were on the south shore with a count of 8 along with 9 Common Sandpipers and 3 Redshank. Snipe were up drumming with 2 in the air and a third bird chipping from a distant wall.
                                                              A real battle going on by the north bank where Greylag, Canada and Mallards all have young on the banking with 11 Herring gull, 8 LBBs and 2 BH gulls reeling overhead. A pair of Wheatear were by the top gate with 2 Golden Plover in the field nearby but none in the Nolstar field where hopefully we,ll get another visit from Dotterel which appeared 1st /2nd May 2017.
                         Fly Flatts is getting very difficult to bird now, the same as this time last year, with the water quickly draining the shoreline is getting further away with deep channels and rocky ledges so most of the work is scoping trying to find the birds in amongst the rocks and gulleys.
A problem of this is whilst I,m head down in the scope I could be missing things overhead so I have to try divide it up with part sky and part shore watching. Also the expanse of mud showing along the north east bank is such a bit area and takes some scanning. Its a matter of watching and waiting now to see what drops in.
BS

Fly Flatts, merry month of May.

                  A pair of Tufted were new in

                     Plenty gulls on chick watch

                                                 1 Male Wheatear

Ideal conditions this morning once the early mist cleared with 90% cloud cover, some sun on a light W>3 but nothing to get me dancing round the Maypole.
                                                                          Plenty Common Sands and Redshank but only 1 Dunlin which showed briefly before disappearing. A quick fly past of the Peregrine didnt help though much of the activity seemed to be at the north end this morning with several Canadas and Mallard with young along with 3 Greylag goslings , all of which have attracted a group of 9 first year Herring gulls and 4 LBBs.
                             A single male Wheatear as well as a male Reed Bunting was present near the boat yard whilst a pair of Tufted duck were on the water, new in from yesterday, but leaving mid watch towards Cold Edge.
BS