Taking the early ferry meant an 0530 hours departure, the benefits from which were a bit sparse, to say the least, with only a single Woodcock seen along the route. With the light beginning to rise bird activity improved in the Sound of Islay with a noticeable gathering of gull species all frantically feeding down the "central corridor" of the Sound itself. Herring Gull (250 ), Common Gull ( 150 ) a few GBBG and a couple of LBBG were all taking advantage of whatever food source was being transported by the tidal flow. By contrast, very little was in the open water towards the mainland!
The day proved to be very mixed as far as weather was concerned. Snow and sleet appeared as the journey up the Rest and Be Thankful Pass was taken and this continued until north Cumbria. None of the snow remained, but driving and visibility was pretty bad and, of course, few birds could be seen! Late afternoon saw the weather improve dramatically as I travelled eastwards over the spine of the hills.with glorious sunshine bathing the whole landscape. Common Gulls fed in many oif the moorland pastures , but generally things were very quiet and remained as such as I hit the traffic in the confines of South and West Yorkshire in the late afternoon.
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