All flights grounded due to Fog?

It was just like that this morning as I arrived at Priorslee lake, it was covered in a good layer of mist / fog, a lazy wind cutting to the bone extremely quickly.

The Gulls were enjoying a float in! as they waited out the poor visibility. There were of course the odd moment when they all lifted, as a people dragger! (dog with person attached) or two moved around the lake and got a bit to close to the flock.

On the first scan nothing was seen, but the second, as they changed position, produced the target for the day. Now how often do you find the bird you are looking for in the ideal position in a Flock? well this one conformed to the norm and was sat right in the middle, not only of the flock but the lake.

So that being the case the pictures were going to be difficult to get, but get they were. I make no apologies for the quality! but proof is got.

Take of.
Nice white primaries.

The bird was still on the water as I left, (having returned after a flight out, right after I had put the news out of it leaving) to investigate the situation at VP, at least I could get in out of the weather, a chance to warm and dry out a bit. A nice Bullfinch pair outside the main hide and a few tit flocks roaming around in the rain. No Pintail, in fact not a lot of anything else.

Needing to get the Whoopers and Golden plover on the sheet for the year and as it was really just down the road, of I goes. The Golden plover flock was split into two and an estimate of the group as a whole would be 400 to 500 birds.

The scene at Melverley was something else, the river was in flood and flowing very fast under and very near to the height of the bridge. The area around the Whooper site was now showing the extent of low lying ground, which at times had hidden the true numbers of swans feeding in the area. The maximum count today was of 6 Adults and one Juvenile, all of them feeding far of swimming the flooded fields, The Black swan was still there and still ostracised probably on account of it's strange accent!!

With some intrigue, after this mornings report of the Barn owl at Acton Burnell I took a look around, more to acquaint myself with the area, than find an Owl. But as per many others the location eluded me. The rain had persisted all the time I was out and now the time had been lost I did not make the Ellesmere roost for the reported Icelandic and Ring billed gull. So if your up there please drop it on the answer machine so i can get the information out as soon as possible.

That's it, a soggy and cold day but an interesting one at least.

hope you enjoy, and don't forget the guest book for your comments!!! clean or otherwise.

Paul