Great morning at Fly Flatts

Friday 11th July a.m.
When my dad asked where I would like to go birding this morning there was only one place on my
list after seeing what NK had found earlier in the week & the follow up reports, we were off to
Fly Flatts.On our arrival conditions were good with just a gentle breeze,good visibility,although cloudy overhead & a temperature of 12.5°C.As we walked down towards the water we were relieved to see
our bird in the distance, we could also see two Kestrels hunting just out of camera range.Then we were
delighted to see a pair of Stonechats our first of the year, these posed well for some snaps.Following
the path near the exposed shoreline there was a good amount of exposed mud, then we spotted a
Dunlin, another first for the year & also our first local sighting.
 Then we got to the path that runs along the back of the reservoir where we had a good view of the
Great Northern Diver we had come to see, a lifer for us.We walked along seeing good numbers of
Canadas near the boat house & a couple of Greylags. There were also several Common Sandpipers around,we headed back getting another look at the GND & the Dunlin plus a Redshank.
A great mornings birding in more than one way.

male Stonechat

female Stonechat

Great Northern Diver

Dunlin

Redshank

Common Sandpiper

Great Northern Diver at Fly Flatts 11/7/14

male Stonechat posing for a snap

Waders making use of the mud at Fly Flatts