Leighton Moss

Drake teal asleep in the mizzle

I had a couple of ideas for a day out today but a quick look at the weather forecast persuaded me to shelve them for now. So I went out to Leighton Moss as that doesn't require good visibility to see plenty of birds and it's literally just round the corner from the station.

Haws

It was dreich as the train approached Silverdale. There wasn't a lot on the pools by the coastal hides: some wigeon, a couple of shelducks and forty-something black-headed gulls. Things were a bit busier at the station with coal tits and chaffinches in and out of the ivy and a few blackbirds in the hawthorns.

Hen pheasant

There were plenty of titmice on the feeders by the "Hideout" at Leighton Moss but no marsh tits. Strangely enough, no greenfinches either (I didn't see any greenfinches or goldfinches all day). One of the female pheasants picking up scraps was particularly dark and richly-marked, it's not only the cocks that can look splendid. 

The view from the Sky Tower

Lilian's Hide was busy with a group so after a quick glance round to note coot, shoveler, mallard and gadwall I moseyed over to the Sky Tower to get a better look at the pool, adding teal, wigeon and tufted duck to the tally. There weren't big numbers of anything other than coot and there weren't much more than thirty of them.

Shovelers

I wandered down into the reedbeds. There were pairs of blue tits and great tits in the willows and a few wrens and robins made themselves known. Walking over the little bridges over the dykes the rise in water level was very apparent.

Leighton Moss

Pintail

There were a few teal and mallard on the pool at the Tim Jackson Hide. Three pintails dabbled over near the trees and a bunch of shovelers dozed near the reeds where a heron lurked. Out in the murky beyond a marsh harrier floated off towards the level crossing and a flock of greylags honked their disapproval.

Shovelers and heron

There were a lot more teal, shovelers and pintail at the Griesdale Hide. There'd been talk last week of a green-winged teal here so I made sure to scan them all and make sure they were all common teals. The hybrid cinnamon teal x shoveler is back, apparently, but I had no luck with it today. A snipe almost went unnoticed in a crowd of teal and the only little egret of the day flew low over head. As I left the hide the first Cetti's warbler of the day belted out a song from the reeds.

Ramalina lichen on a willow twig

There were more robins, wrens, blue tits and great tits on the way back and a couple of duelling water rails squealed the odds at the reedbed edge. A couple of goldcrests passed quickly by just before I reached the Sky Tower.

Willows in the reedbed

Walking down to the causeway a blackbird chased a couple of redwings out of a hawthorn bush, for no apparent reason because all its berries had already been eaten. There were more robins and blue tits along the boardwalk and another Cetti's warbler sang from near the tops of the reeds and let me take a photo.

Cetti's warbler

There was an embarrassment of Cetti's warblers along the causeway. Reed buntings and blue tits flitted around the willows on either side and crows flew overhead. Had it not been calling there's no way I'd have identified the shadow passing in the low cloud as a curlew. 

From the Causeway Hide

The water was high on the causeway pool and the island was almost submerged. The only cormorant on the pool had to make do with perching on a pole. There wasn't a lot on: a small herd of mute swans on the opposite side, a handful of tufties over in the deep water and a small mixed flock of coots, gadwall and shovelers hanging round the reeds at the right. Something upset these last because they moved out into the water pretty sharpish but I couldn't see what might be the culprit.

Cormorant

I walked down the causeway as far as the dyke, had a nosey down either end then walked back. There was a marsh tit in the brambles by the "Hideout" as I passed by and a pied wagtail flew low overhead in the car park.

I'd spent longer than usual at Leighton Moss so if I'd done the usual thing of taking the Barrow train as far as Ulverston I'd have spent the best part of an hour at Lancaster on the way back so I waited ten minutes more for the Manchester train. Which was cancelled at Preston, which meant I got into Manchester in time to see my train home leaving. Ah well, can't win them all. It had been a good day's birdwatching.