Leighton Moss

Great white egret

A phenomenally quiet couple of hours around Leighton Moss. Given the time of year and the current circumstances this is hardly surprising. The ducks are in moult and sleeping in the shade and the small passerines are quietly going about their business. This time of year the action's all at the Griesdale and Tim Jackson hides and down at the coastal hides as the wader passage starts kicking in for serious and at the moment these hides are still closed to the public. Still, don't look, don't find…

As the train pulled into Silverdale I could see a large flock of black-tailed godwits on the pool by the Eric Morecambe Hide, together with a few lapwings, teal and shelduck. There were a few smaller waders out there which at a guess I'd suggest were redshank but I didn't get the chance to confirm the ID. As I walked through the entrance to Leighton Moss a swallow twittered overhead. That was to be the only hirundine of the visit.

The truth about birdwatching

The feeding station by the picnic area was busy with titmice, chaffinches and people.Mallards slept in pairs in shady places oblivious to visitors.Most of the titmice were great and blue tits, with a couple of coal tits and a marsh tit. A nuthatch was being particularly noisy and a family party of long-tailed tits flitted about through the willows. There were more robins about than last time and their behaviour reminded me that there'll be a generation of small birds here that haven't been used to taking food from strangers.

The views from the sky tower and Lilian's Hide were pretty light on birds. A couple of dozen coot fed close by the reeds; small groups of mallard and gadwall, perhaps a dozen of each all told, dozed on the water and half a dozen teal sat deep in the reeds. A great crested grebe and a family of dabchicks drifted out of the reeds and the last of the black-headed gulls loafed on one of the nesting platforms.

By Lilian's Hide

Taking the path over to the causeway there were plenty of brown hawkers and black darters patrolling the reeds. I kept checking overhead for marsh harriers or even a passing osprey but there were just four lesser black-backs drifting inland.

Walking along the causeway I was having a moan to myself about there being all those thermals and no raptors taking advantage of them when a great white egret flew overhead and headed off towards the reedbeds opposite the Lower Hide.A couple of chiffchaffs calling from the willow trees were the only small birds to be heard or seen. A flock of lapwings flew over towards the salt marsh.

From the screen by the Causeway Hide (which had its capacity eight people in it) I could see another flock of coots by the reeds on the far side. The water was high so there wasn't a lot of space for half a dozen roosting cormorants and an adult great black-back (I could see no sign of a youngster). Another cormorant was sat on a pole and a family of mute swans, including five well-grown cygnets, were out on the far margins near the Lower Hide.  The only ducks to be seen were half a dozen mallard half asleep by the reeds.

Walking back I added to the dragonfly tally with a few common blue damselflies on the causeway and a common darter on the boardwalk. A couple of water rails squealed from the reeds by the boardwalk but I could only see the movement of the reeds where they'd been.

And back home. The weather had been fresher than it had been all week, with a nice breeze to help make the heat a bit less oppressive. Even so I resisted the temptation to try to max out my old man's rail explorer ticket. I needed a cup of tea.