Lancashire bumper bundle

Marsh harrier, Leighton Moss 

The bouncing about in the blackcurrant bushes first thing was a juvenile robin being supervised by both parents, which is nice. The spadgers and goldfinches are doing a good job of depleting the sunflower seed feeders, which is a good thing. And me and the cat had a row, which is a bad thing but the magpies and woodpigeons got a fish supper out of it.

It was a nice, summery sort of day with bits of light cloud and a cooling breeze. It's supposed to be raining tomorrow so I thought I'd have a trip out to Leighton Moss and try and see some marsh tits, I always struggle with them this time of year when it's the invisible titmouse season.

Four spoonbills stood in the pool by the Eric Morecambe Hide as the train slowed down for Silverdale. Typically, they were asleep (the lively ones in Southport are very much the exception in my experience). The fidgety avocets and black-headed gulls redressed the balance.

Leighton Moss was busy with birds and people and I gave the Hideout a miss. The school party that was visiting were brilliant, very quiet and well-behaved, and the grown-ups with them were remembering to do inside voice so as not to scare the birds. Robins, wrens, blackcaps and chiffchaffs sang in the trees around the visitor centre, mallards puttered about the picnic area blackbirds rummaged in the leaf litter and woodpigeons clattered about the treetops.

At Lilian's Hide 

The black-headed gulls were sitting on nests at Lilian's Hide though it was a struggle to see them in the grass on the rafts. For once the most numerous ducks on the pool were pochards, about a dozen of them compared to the handfuls of mallards, gadwalls and tufted ducks. Coots had youngsters in tow. The usual mute swans were nowhere to be seen. A couple of very noisy pairs of dabchicks bobbed about near the pochards but didn't follow them down when they dived. A sleek brown shape breaking water before diving again turned out to be a great crested grebe unsuccessfully trying to grab an eel. A female marsh harrier drifted over the reedbed over near the causeway then disappeared into the reeds.

Blue-tailed damselfly 

Stretches of the path to the reedbeds was festooned with willow down and every twig, branch or tussock of rushes was dressed for Halloween. I can't remember a year when there has been such a huge quantity of it, possibly a combination of weather-induced stresses encouraging more flowers and a warm, dry Spring providing plenty of pollinating insects. The most conspicuous insects were the common blue damselflies and blue-tailed damselflies zipping around at ankle height or sunning themselves on the path. A few large whites and speckled woods fluttered about the willows but they were few and far between.

Festooned with willow down

By the path to the reedbed

It was a quiet walk into the reeds. There was the quiet buzzing of hungry youngsters as families of blue tits and great tits moved through the willows. A Cetti's warbler sang by the sky tower, a chiffchaff sang in the trees by the field, a willow warbler sang in the trees at the corner where the path joins the reedbeds and a reed warbler sang in the reeds directly opposite. Otherwise the birds silently got on with their business under cover of leaves, even the usually very pushy robins were keeping a low profile.

The main drain through the reeds

There were more reed warblers and another Cetti's warbler singing in the reedbeds. Reed buntings flitted to and fro, too busy to stop. A few swifts hawked overhead, there was a distinct lack of hirundines. Besides the damselflies a few large whites and a green veined white dashed about the reed edges and craneflies careered about in ungainly fashion.

Nesting oystercatcher 

It was fairly quiet at Tim Jackson's Hide, too. A dozen or so gadwalls and a few mallards silently dabbled. I looked in vain for any of the teals or shovelers that are usually a feature of this pool. Teal in particular do a very comprehensive vanishing job this time of year. A lapwing called every so often as it fed by the pool edge. The oystercatchers are nesting in the corner of the roof of the sand martin box that the black-headed gulls claimed last year. The nesting bird sat quietly most of the time. Its mate flew in and joined the lapwing for a few minutes, a crow got too close to the nest, the nesting bird piped quietly just once and all of a sudden the crow was being driven off by a furious oystercatcher. Excitement over, things settled back into premature midsummer somnolence with just the buzzing of broad-bodied chasers and bee-mimic hoverflies to break the silence.

Nesting great black-backs 

I walked down to the Griesdale Hide past a reed warbler singing in a tree, another singing more conventionally in the reeds and a Cetti's warbler singing by the hide. At first glance it was very quiet out on the pool, a second glance spotted the couple of dozen gadwalls loafing on the banks with the dried mud matching the browns and greys of their plumage. The great black-backs were nesting again on the osprey platform and looked a picture of domestic bliss.

Marsh harrier 

A female marsh harrier floated in and provided a hint of the birdlife hidden in the depths of the reeds. Lapwings, black-headed gulls and jackdaws flew up in panic as it passed by. It was eventually chased off by greylag geese.

Marsh harrier 

Marsh harrier 

All the while a handful of red deer were sitting on the bankside idly chewing grass.

Red deer

Common blue damselfly

I wandered back, tiptoeing round the damselflies as I went. I was sure that all the common blue damselflies weren't common blue damselflies but it was more by luck than judgement that one doubtful individual stayed still long enough for me to confirm it as an azure damselfly.

Distant twittering alerted me to a handful of swallows dancing around each other high over the level crossing. Perhaps the wet weather promised this weekend will herald more swallows and swifts than I've been seeing this Spring.

Juvenile marsh tit

I'd just passed Lilian's Hide when I noticed some frantic fluttering in the undergrowth. A couple of marsh tit fledglings were badgering their parents for food, following on heel almost, wings fluttering all the while. Well worth the trip on their own.

Juvenile marsh tit

Buoyed by the marsh tits I decided to call it quits. I quite fancied having a long walk down to have a look at the new Lower Hide but with the trains behaving as they have been doing I didn't fancy trying to negotiate the Lancaster connection late on a Friday teatime. The last through train to Manchester for a few hours was due in ten minutes so I got that.

Silverdale Station 

I still had a bit of a walk left in me and I weighed up the connections at Preston and beyond for a likely teatime stroll. They didn't look promising, they all involved long waits for the connecting train. There was only ten minutes to wait for the Colne train at Preston, I remembered that the sign at Cherry Tree Station said: "Alight here for Witton Country Park." So I did. Along the way I had the splendid bonus of seeing a red kite hanging in mid air over the M6 as the train went by somewhere near Barnacre.

Walking down to Witton Country Park 

It's a short walk from the station to Witton Park. I crossed the main road, walked down Geddes Street and followed the footpath down through the trees and onto Tower Road at the playing fields. Remarkably there were nearly fifty carrion crows gathered on the grass at the corner here. I double-checked and triple-checked, they were all carrion crows. I'm always a bit dubious whenever I see double figures of carrion crows, this was ridiculous.

Crow Wood

I had an hour's wander round, which largely involved taking a meandering route through Crow Wood. It was a very pleasant walk. Even though it was a sunny Friday teatime and there were lots of people it didn't feel crowded and there were plenty of birds about. I encountered all the usual woodland species I've been bumping into all week. I'll bear it in mind the next time I'm in the area and have the energy for a bonus walk.

Witton Country Park 

The train back to Preston was cancelled so I got the next Colne train and changed at Blackburn for the next Manchester train.