Leighton Moss

Leighton Moss

Leighton Moss is too stressful to be an enjoyable day's birdwatching though it's always a good day's birdwatching. Which is a shame because it's a damned good reserve and the staff and volunteers are great. I should have visited on a day where the weather was pretty awful. Never mind, it was a good day's birdwatching.

They've changed the train times again so there's just the one through train to Silverdale from Manchester, though the connections at Lancaster at other times look OK. The good news is that it's a through train to Carlisle so it's now feasible to have a day trip to Millom and have a wander round Hodbarrow though it's too late to catch the nesting Sandwich terns and little terns. It struck me the other day that it's a strange year when I see more Sabine's gulls than Sandwich terns.

As the train pulled into Silverdale Station I noticed that the marsh hides were now open. I thought about wandering down there but it's a long walk to find there's already the maximum number of people in the hide and it's not as if you can look out from a screen by the sides. It was tempting, though, as hide tide had pushed quite a lot of waders in, mostly redshanks and black-tailed godwits but there were smaller birds on the Allen pool. There were a couple of dozen little egrets on the Eric Morecambe pool and plenty more dotted about on the salt marsh beyond.

Although it was mid-morning it was picnic time at the "hideout" by the reserve entrance. Luckily the birds seem to have relearned to ignore people so there was plenty of activity at the feeders with chaffinches, titmice and nuthatches making most of the running. I was hoping to get marsh tit ticked off early here but none came in. It only occurred to me today that the house sparrows that live in the hedgerows around the visitor centre never visit the feeding stations. I have no idea why that's the case.

I had a look round from the sky tower. There were a lot more ducks on the pool in front of Lilian's Hide than last time. Surprisingly, most were gadwall although there were good numbers of mallard and a dozen shovelers; it took a while for me to find any teal, they were all resting well tucked into the bases of the reeds. A couple of juvenile Pochard were unexpected, it's usually been quite late in Autumn before I find them on this pool. As I was standing at the top of the tower a couple of Cetti's warblers were having a singing duel in the reeds at its feet.

A quick visit to Lilian's Hide confirmed what I saw from the tower and added four dabchicks to the tally. As I came out and wandered down the path one of the Cetti's started singing again so I had a go at recording it. I gave it up after three attempts due to human noise, including one group loudly discussing their sandwiches and then getting to the hide: "It says we have to wear masks." "We'll be alright." I suspect the people inside the hide pointed out they wouldn't be alright as five minutes later they trumpeted past while I was trying to photograph blackcaps eating elderberries.

I had a bit more luck recording a Cetti's warbler on the boardwalk leading to the public causeway.

Walking down the causeway I bumped into the only marsh tit of the day, one of a small mixed flock working its way down through the willow saplings on the right. And another couple of duelling Cetti's warblers. Two buzzards were calling and soaring together over the hill and a third was soaring high over Silverdale village.

There was room in the Causeway Hide so I spent ten minutes having a look round. There were a lot of mallard and coot on the water, with shovelers and teal tending to congregate near the reed margins. A dozen wigeon fed behind the little island, a couple of females and ten males in eclipse plumage. A group of cormorants were resting on the island, extending their throat pouches and panting in the unseasonably warm sunshine. Another Cetti's warbler flew across the front of the hide, the fifth of the day. The same, or possibly a sixth, bird was singing from the opposite side of the path when I left the hide.

Cormorants panting in the heat

I'd already encountered a few common hawkers patrolling the reedbeds as I was walking down. There were more on this pool, as well as a couple of brown hawkers. There were also a few Southern hawkers, including some all-blue individuals. (The usual caveats apply to my identification of dragonflies I don't see regularly) [Update — I'm advised these were migrant hawkers] As I left the hide a couple of common darters flew from the reeds by the door.

Migrant Hawker

After a couple of hours I'd had enough. I decided to max out my old man's explorer ticket by getting the next train to Carlisle and seeing how far I could get and be able to come back and home before the cat reported me missing. As it was, I lost my nerve and got off at Millom, giving me nearly half an hour to spare for the next train to Lancaster. I didn't fancy waiting an hour at Lancaster for the Preston train (you either visit Lancaster properly or you try not to spend more than quarter of an hour on the station) so I got off at Arnside and mooched around admiring the Kent Estuary for an hour before getting the next train from Barrow.

The tide had receded by now and most of the estuary was sand littered with black-headed gulls, with a large flock of shelducks over the other side. A few lesser black-backs picked about the sides of the creeks and more flew over out into the bay. A lone common gull spent it's time flitting between lamposts by the railway station.

Common gull, Arnside

Home from Preston via a circuitous route in the twilight, optimistically looking for owls hunting over rough fields and fish finger butties for tea.