Leighton Moss

Marsh harrier

It was a nice, sunny morning full of promise so I headed for Leighton Moss for a few hours' wander.

Coal tits, robins and dunnocks were singing at Silverdale Station when I got off the train and they were joined by greenfinches and chaffinches as I crossed the bridge and over into Leighton Moss.

I got my eye in at the "Hideaway," the feeders pretty much being monopolised by chaffinches. Half a dozen mallards mopped up the spillage on the ground assisted by some very assertive blackbirds

Chiffchaffs sang from the willows along the path to Lilian's Hide. There were a lot of them about today, anywhere that had more than a couple of trees or bushes had a chiffchaff singing in there.

Greylags and teal

From Lilian's Hide

A dozen greylags over by the reeds made themselves known even before I got into Lilian's Hide. Shovelers, teal and rafts of tufted ducks loafed about and a couple of pochards fed in the deep water on the far side. A pair of great crested grebes lurked by the reeds behind them. A Cetti's warbler, the only one of the day, sang from the reeds next to the hide.

From Lilian's Hide

A couple of dozen black-headed gulls had settled themselves down on the nesting rafts but hadn't starting nest-building yet. A marsh harrier flying low over the reedbed and over the water scarcely raised a peep, in a few weeks' time the reception would be considerably more raucous.

Dabchick

At first sight the Tim Jackson Hide looked a bit quiet. A few teal dabbled about and a couple of dabchicks dived for food in the pool just in front of the hide. A closer look found a dozen pintails asleep in one corner and a few more teal on the far side of the pool. The harsh light reflecting off the water on the heads of some of the teal caught my eye a few times. Then I noticed that the pale flash on one of the birds wasn't just a trick of the light. There was a duck to go with the drake garganey. Distance and light made photographing them hard work even though they were showing very well.

Garganey

Garganey

Garganey

It was a lot quieter at the Griesdale Hide, work was being done on the osprey platform that was installed last year. It looked like a camera rig was being installed. Nevertheless there were a few shovelers, mute swans and lapwings loafing about.

From the Griesdale Hide

Walking back through the reedbeds I watched a couple of skydancing marsh harriers. The choreography was accompanied by the squeals of a couple of water rails in the reeds nearby and a bittern booming somewhere in the distance.

Marsh harrier skydancing

Marsh harrier skydancing

Marsh harrier skydancing

There was another bird higher up, a buzzard which was soon joined by a raven that escorted it in the direction of Warton Crag.

I hadn't seen a marsh tit yet, an omission that rectified itself when one bounced up into the bushes by the path back to the visitor centre.

I decided to move on. It was late lunchtime so there was plenty of time to have a wander someplace else. There was ten minutes to wait for the train to Carlisle so I got that, thinking I could have a quick scout round at Hodbarrow. Then I looked at the return train times: I'd just have time to get to the car park at Hodbarrow and back for the last train making sensible connections back to Manchester that didn't involve hanging round Lancaster Station for an hour and a half. So I went as far as Ulverston and got the Manchester Airport train there.

It was high tide so most of the birds were further up the estuaries than the railway line. A few black-headed gulls bobbed around on the water of the Kent at Arnside. There were lots of shelduck and little egrets on marsh before Grange over Sands. The saltmarsh after Cark was a lot quieter than usual, just a few carrion crows and mallards. The River Leven was much more productive, with flocks of redshanks roosted on the banks and oystercatchers on the rail viaduct.

At Ulverston Station some of the gulls that were wheeling about looked to be settling down for the breeding season. A pair of herring gulls and a pair of lesser black-backs seemed to be setting up territories on the flat roof spaces by the chimneys either side of the station.

River Leven

On the way back a pair of red-breasted mergansers were swimming upstream on the Leven and dozens of pairs of teal lurked in the drains between Grange and Meathop.

I thought I'd get a bit more mileage out of my old man's explorer ticket so I took a very quick side trip to Blackpool from Preston just for the sake of it then got the train home.

A pretty undemanding but very productive start to the birdwatching week and the new arrivals of Summer visitors are keeping the year list ticking over.