Leighton Moss

Sketch map: Silverdale and Leighton Moss

Leighton Moss is a dead easy day out by public transport (so long as the trains are behaving themselves) as the main entrance to the reserve is literally just round the corner from Silverdale Station, on Storrs Lane. The only reason for it ever to be much more than a minute's walk is the bird life in the brambles and trees by the station. The reserve is famous for its reed beds; marsh harriers and bearded tits breed here, bitterns used to breed here regularly, less frequently these days.

Silverdale Station is on the Lancaster to Barrow-in-Furness line with a few through trains from Manchester and Carlisle.Not every train that goes through stops here; it's sometimes possible to make a connection to a quick train via Arnside. If you're lucky you'll get ten minutes to wait for your connection, which gives you the chance of a look over the very picturesque stretch of the river by the station.

Leighton Moss

There are two parts to the reserve: the complex of reed beds and pools by the visitor centre and the salt marsh about a mile down the road to the south. The paths are mostly very good; the only one that's a bit rustic is the path through the damp woods between the Lower Hide and the road to the north-east of the reserve. In Winter, with one eye on the train timetables, it can be a bit of a push to fit everything in, especially if you feel the need to stop for a pot of tea and a sausage bap at half time.

The only downside to Leighton Moss is its popularity: some of the hides (particularly the Causeway Hide) can get very busy.

Marsh tit

From the visitor centre the first port of call should be the feeding station by the little bit of garden. This will give you the chance to get your eye in and you might strike lucky and see one of the reserve's marsh tits. (Don't give up if you don't see one here, there are plenty more chances.)

From here you've got three options:

• Follow the path to the right on to Lilian's Hide and then through the reed beds to the Tim Jackson and Griesdale hides.
• Follow the path to the left on to the public causeway and then through to the Causeway Hide and further on to the Lower Hide.
• Go back through the visitor centre, turn left on the road, over the bridge and turn left and follow the road down to the Allen and Eric Morecambe hides.

Take your time walking through the reed bed areas. Most of the birds in the reeds will be blue tits, robins and wrens; in Summer they're joined by reed warblers and sedge warblers, with chiffchaffs and willow warblers in the trees. And there's always a chance of striking dead lucky and bumping into some bearded tits! Inevitably, water rails are more often seen than heard. The pools hold mallard, teal, gadwall and shoveler, with wigeon and pintail in Winter. In Summer hirundines and swifts hawk over the pools and these — and the huge numbers of dragonflies on the reserve — attract hobbies. On a very good day you may see four species of heron: grey heron, little egret, bittern and great white egret. And once in a blue moon…

Juvenile purple heron, August 2017

Near the visitor centre the trees attract all the usual woodland species. The fields by the reserve attract green woodpeckers but they're usually heard rather than seen. And wherever you are keep looking up once in a while: marsh harriers can fly in quite low, buzzards soar above the wooded hillside to the east of the reserve and in Summer you may see one of the ospreys commuting between Morecambe Bay and Foulshaw Moss. In Winter, particularly after Christmas, there can be some spectacular starling murmurations.

Marsh harrier

A lot of the small birds are so used to visitors they're almost tame to the point of impertinence. If you're like me and feel guilty when you're faced with a robin begging for food it's as well to have a bag of dried mealworms in your pocket. Many of the robins and great tits will feed from the hand; I once saw a nuthatch surprise somebody by doing it. I sort of expect robins and great tits to come a-begging, I'm still surprised when coal tits and marsh tits join in. All you have to do is stand still in some places and they'll come to you whether you're feeding them or not.

From Lilian's to the Griesdale Hide

Lilian's Hide overlooks a large pool surrounded by reeds. Lapwings and black-tailed godwits roost here when the water's low. You can often see snipe at the water's edge and in freezing weather you've a good chance of seeing water rail.

Right by Lilian's Hide is the Skytower. At first sight it's a bit of a gimmick but it provides an excellent panoramic overview of the reserve and lets you get your bearings in the scheme of things. In Winter and Spring this treetop view is a good way of finding siskins.

Moving on the path along the edge of the reserve is fringed by willows. On your left there is a big reed bed, on your right are some fields and the railway line. Take your time and check both sides, it's usually worth it. At the bottom of the path it turns sharply left and into the reed bed. You'll hear more than you see and most of what you'll see will be flying over. It's a very pleasant walk.

Reeds

The path forks at a large willow tree. The Tim Jackson Hide is to your right and the slightly larger Griesdale Hide to the left. It's a toss-up as to which to go to first. They both overlook small reed bed pools fringed with willows. Sometimes they're both dead quiet, sometimes one's busy and every so often both are busy. The only thing you can predict is that in freezing conditions they'll be quiet of bird life. Red deer can often be seen from these hides though they're often tricky to spot. Wood sandpipers seem to favour the Griesdale Hide, very often giving excellent views.

Wood sandpiper

Along the causeway to the Lower Hide

The path from the visitor centre to the public causeway mostly runs closely parallel to the road and gives a nice view over this part of the reserve. It then turns into a short stretch of boardwalk through a corner of the reed bed . The point at which this path meets the causeway is currently the territory of a particularly vocal Cetti's warbler.

Be careful walking along the causeway as cars do use it to get from the road to the other side of the reserve. There are a couple of open areas with grit trays that are used by bearded tits in Autumn; your best chance is early in the morning, by eleven o'clock you've probably missed them. If you don't like crowds you'd best wait for the bad weather.

Female bearded tit

The Causeway Hide overlooks a large pool fringed by reeds. There's a tiny island in the middle which is used by resting waders — lapwings, redshanks and greenshanks — and cormorants. Black-headed gulls often nest here though last year they were put off by a pair of great black-backed gulls that raised a couple of young. This tends to be the best place to see otters or, if you're lucky, a bittern.

Carrying on down the causeway there's a little bridge over one of the channels. On your right the channel leads on to a complex of small shallow pools. Water rails are often heard in the reeds at this corner and in the height of the chasing-each-other-round-like-clockwork-mice season they can be so busy chasing each other they forget they're supposed to be masters of hiding in the reeds. Past this point there's a stretch of wet woodland, mostly alders, on your left stretching down to the Lower Hide and beyond. In Winter check the treetops for lesser redpolls.

At the bottom of the causeway, on the left, there's a gate to the path leading to the Lower Hide. This tree-lined path runs along the edge of the reserve with the wet woodland on your left and farmland on your right. The farmland attracts curlews and cattle egrets have visited here.

On the path back from the Lower Hide to the Causeway..

The Lower Hide is smaller than the Causeway hide and sits on the opposite corner of the pool. The margins of the pool are shallower here so waders come closer to the hide at this side.

Beyond the Lower Hide the path to the road deteriorates and can be very wet in places. It can be worth exploring, though, as this end is quieter and wilder than the rest of this part of the reserve and can throw up the occasional surprise. Once you get to the end I'd retrace my steps, it can be a bit of a hairy walk back down that road.

The salt marsh hides

The Allen and Eric Morecambe hides are about a mile's walk away from the visitor centre. The hides overlook pools at the edge of the salt marsh and attract good numbers of wildfowl and waders, always with the chance that something unusual has come along with the migrating flocks.

Follow the road away from Silverdale Station till you come to the junction with the road to Warton. Turn left here, carry on over the level crossing then over the narrow (one vehicle wide) road bridge. Just after this bridge there's a turning on your right that goes under the railway line. Follow this down to the car park. The gate at the far end is the start of the path to the hide. The fields and trees in this part of the reserve are particularly worth checking out for passage migrants.

The first hide is the Allen Hide. This overlooks a small, shallow pool that is very popular with waders. In Summer you'll see avocets and black-headed gulls, in Winter greenshank, redshank and one or two spotted redshanks.

Redshanks and greenshanks

Further along is the slightly bigger Eric Morecambe Hide. One side of this overlooks the Allen Pool, the other looks out over a bigger pool and then out into the salt marsh. High tide is best as that brings birds in towards the hide. On a sunny Winter's day it can be as frustrating as rewarding as the bird that most looks like something special will invariably be the one sat on top of a bank with the sun right behind it. Don't forget to check the muddy corner to the left for waders!

On the walk back to the visitor centre, or Silverdale Station, there are a couple of lay-bys where you can stop and have a look at the southern end of the reed beds. Be careful on the way back: the junction with the road to the station is a bit of a blind bend and there's an unhelpful bend on the approach to the junction with Storrs Lane. Alternatively, if you've the time and the bus timetable allows it, you could turn left at the junction and spend some time in Silverdale village before getting the bus back to the station.

Dusk at Leighton Moss