Ogden saves the day. Yellow Legged Herring gull.

 

OGDEN                                Adult Yellow Legged Herring gull , michahellis.

                                                Herring gulls, argenteus.  RH bird 3rd cycle.

                                                Herring and LBB

                                    1 of 5 Cormorant with Herring

                                                 Herring and Black Headed

                                        YL Herring  centre behind LBB

A cool windy morning at Fly Flatts with a moderate W>4 bringing light showers at 12 degrees with broken dark cloud and some sun. Visibility was good.

                An exceptionally quiet morning with a walk the length of the west bank and a full scope around the shoreline finding just a single Common Sandpiper on the east bank.

A good overnight fall of Wheatear with a minimum count of 18 on the south bank all slowly ground hopping through, otherwise it was just down to the usual species.

               Luckily a late afternoon gull check at Ogden saved the day with a single adult Yellow Legged Herring gull present among the gulls on the east bank. Around 100 Black Headed, 80 LBB and 16 Herring gulls present but no Commons which are late arriving back this year.

                  A single Curlew headed >W whilst 3 Oystercatchers and a Common Sandpiper were on the shore. A Gt Crested Grebe was on the water along with 5 f Tufted duck.

                 Yellow Legged Herring seem to be getting more common each year or possibly the fact that birders are more aware of them now so tend to look for them more. I,ve had  6 so far this year.

BS

 

 

 

  

Another welcome visitor to Fly Flatts, Common Scoter.

                                                       Drake Common Scoter

                                       New in today, Redshank

                                    Road blocked this morning with abandoned stolen vehicle.

                                    2 Barnacles, Canadas and Common Scoter.

                                            3 Oystercatchers present.

 A bright and breezy morning with a mild but moderate SW>4-5 turning W>4 with broken cloud and sunshine at 14 degrees.

                           A pleasing visit from the sixth Common Scoter of the year to this site but ,as usual, keeping well into the middle of the water at all times. Surprisingly, the Scoter was still present late afternoon despite wind surfers on the water.

                        Another new in visitor was a Redshank which I hoped for Spotted but not to be. Three Redshank were on the far shore throughout along with 4 Wheatear, 5 LBB and 3 juv BH gulls.

                       A couple of Kestrel were working the west bank, the best count I,ve had of this species this year whilst a single Buzzard was over the Nab.

                       As I was tackling up at 1000 hrs this morning another Greenshank dropped in from very high NE and landed on the north shore but well out of range for the camera. When I returned late afternoon the Redshank was still present but no sign of the Greenshank.

BS

Clear out of waders. More dispersion.

 

                                Willow Warblers moving through in the heavy drizzle.

                                   Very rare bird for Fly Flatts seen on passage only.

The morning session at Fly Flatts was abandoned due to thick fog on the tops and heavy rain on a moderate SW>4 gusting 5. Late afternoon was clear with sunshine and showers but still the strong SW>4 at a warm 18 degrees.

                               A walk the full length of the west bank and a scope all around the perimeter of the water failed to find a single wader of any description so its a matter of waiting for the next wave through. The problem this year is the waders are spoilt for choice with most reservoir being low so its going to be hit and miss as to what drops in here.

                           More dispersion was apparent with at least 6 Willow Warblers moving through as well as 8 Wheatears, mostly adults in moult, but all very flighty flitting along the shoreline.

                          Otherwise just 4 juv BH gull on the shoreline and a single Raven along with 2 LBB gulls overhead. Plenty Swallows about in no specific direction but no Swifts.

                         Another blustery south westerly tomorrow but forecast dry and hopefully fog free.

BS

A good start to August.

 

                                  1 of 2 very distant Greenshank in the heat haze.

                                                                           1st bird left >E

                                             Common Sandpiper

                                                          Just 4 LBB gull

                                                          ad Wheatear.

                                                                  Juv Wheatear

A bright and calm sunny morning at Fly Flatts with a light W>2 at 13 degrees but a strong heat haze around the shoreline.

                               First scope of the morning produced a single Greenshank in the NE corner but after some feeding and preening it up and left very high and >E.

A walk the length of the west bank to check the north shore only produced a single Common Sandpiper though several Wheatears were present with a minimum count of 12.

                         A sign of early dispersion was 3 Willow Warblers in the lagoon tree, a species that I only get over these next 3 months whilst the 3 hatched Pied Wagtails left the nest today and were flying freely around the area but still being fed with the adult pair. That,s 5 young the pair have successfully reared this year.

                      A few gulls around the shore but nothing skyward in the bright clear conditions. Hopes were dashed for an Osprey over today with several on the move to the north of the area.

Heres a few better Greenshank photos I took at TMR a few years back.

BS