Pine Lake and Leighton Moss

Pine Lake

Lunchtime stroll round Pine Lake, just outside Carnforth, which turns out to be quite easy to get to by public transport. I was hoping for the ring-necked duck that was there yesterday, which would be a lifer for me. After half an hour's straining my eyes staring at a raft of tufted duck in the bright, low light (with a few scaup to add to the mix) I realised I'd overlooked it twice because it had been asleep with its head tucked behind it. When it woke up it steamed behind a group of tufted ducks and I lost the damned thing again. It took a while to pick it up again but I couldn't get a photo of it.

I'd got an Old Man's Ranger ticket so I decided to move on from Carnforth. I considered getting the train through to Carlisle for a lark as I last did it thirty years ago but on a whim, and not wanting to waste the good weather, I decided to have a couple of hours at Leighton Moss and spend a bit of time in the Causeway Hide.

Cetti's warbler

Good job I did. Cetti's warblers were very active on the causeway; it's not often I get to see a whole Cetti's, usually it's a fleeting glimpse of a head, wing or tail, today I got three. Two were so intent on fighting for their territory close to the hide that they didn't care that I was stood there. A lot of kerfuffle at the base of some reeds then two Cetti's warblers rolled out onto the path then carried the fight on in the reeds on the other side. A third was being very noisy by the grit feeders so I stopped to see if I could see it. Imagine my surprise when it jumped onto the wooden rail, sang at me then dived back into the reeds on the ground. I eventually got a photo of it and was feeling quite pleased with myself when I turned round to find a couple of bearded tits on the grit trays a couple of yards from me.

Bearded tit

A distant short-eared owl flying low over one of the cow fields was a bonus.