Leighton Moss

Pintails, mallards and teal

I would have put good money on my first words of the day not being: "Where's your tail?" As I opened the front door I'd disturbed a magpie that had been rummaging round the plant pots and it bounced down the path and shouted rude things from the tree across the road. It had evidently just had a mauling from something, as well as being tailless it was holding its wings stiffly and the blood on its left wing hadn't dried. It's been the best part of a week since I last saw any of the neighbourhood cats and the other magpies hadn't made the commotion I'd expect from a visit by the sparrowhawk. I wonder if it had pushed its luck with one of the carrion crows. 

The weather was set foul and the wind was cold and fast. It was a day for pottering about inside, or failing that sitting on an almost warm train for long periods. I settled for the latter, got myself an old man's explorer ticket and got the Barrow train.

The bird life seen from the train on the way up was a lot quieter than usual. Woodpigeons and magpies, if seen at all, were huddling out of the wind in lower branches of trees. Their usually favoured trackside furniture perches were deserted. We passed by a few small groups of gulls, mostly black-headed with a few herring gulls North of Preston. 

Mute swans, greylags, teals and mallards cruised the pools at the coastal hides on the approach to Silverdale. There were a host of other ducks out there that I couldn't identify as we chugged past. A great white egret stuck out from the rushes on one of the islands. Another great white egret was stalking flooded fields on the approach to Arnside. 

When we left Lancaster the Lune looked to be at high tide. The Kent at Arnside looked halfway up and the mud banks were still being explored by redshanks and curlews. A redhead goosander steered its way away from the viaduct as the train passed over the main channel.

The salt marshes on the other side were busy with mallards, teals, carrion crows and shelducks. But no little egrets. Having had a quick look at my records I discover that I don't often see them on Morecambe Bay in February. Looking out of the train window I couldn't blame them for going for more sheltered spots inland.

The Leven was running very high and scores of wigeon moved away from the viaduct as the train passed over. I keep hoping to see a few eiders here but I've had no luck yet this year and didn't on the way back, either.

I didn't want to wait fifty-odd minutes for the next train back from Barrow and the weather didn't suggest itself for a walk round Barrow Park or Cavendish Dock so I got off at Dalton and waited five minutes for the train back to Silverdale. I managed to see a couple of little egrets on the way back, singles on sheltered pools at Kents Bank and on Meathop Road outside Grange-over-sands. The Kent still wasn't anywhere near as high as the Lune or Leven, a flock of lapwings loafed on one of the mud banks as we passed.

I got off at Silverdale and walked round to Leighton Moss. The vegetation's been stripped off the station wall and great lumps have been taken out of the stones in the process.

It wasn't the weather for a prolonged visit. I decided I'd be getting the next train back to Manchester. I had The Hideout to myself, the weather was that bad. The greenfinches on the feeders were making most of the noise but the chaffinches were outnumbering them three to one. Great tits muscled in as best could. Blue tits, coal tits and marsh tits dashed in an out whenever there was a lull in the feeding. Today's mopping-up crew were a couple of mallards, a pheasant, a moorhen and a crowd of chaffinches. The robins were mostly busy singing in the bushes.

Leighton Moss 

The view from Lilian's Hide 

The walk round to Lilian's Hide confirmed this was going to be a short visit. All the small birds noises were creaking and groaning branches. The ducks weren't fond either, great masses of them had beached onto the bank in front of the hide and gone to sleep. A raft of coots were drifting about midwater when I arrived. They quickly headed for the bank when a shower of horizontal rain passed by. A raft of pintails stayed out a lot longer, the drakes were busy trying to impress the ladies. They only shifted when a female marsh harrier drifted over, they flew up in a panic and joined the crowd of ducks on the bank. Another female harrier was flying about with a male way over by the causeway, it was impossible to tell whether or not they were paired up or a coincidence. Any ideas the pintails had about drifting back out into the water were knocked on the head when the pair of great black-backs drifted by.

Shovelers
The first-Winter drakes, like the one in the front, were starting to show the green on their heads.

Shovelers 

Coot and teal

Mallards and teal

Pintails 

Marsh harrier
The reason for the pintails' skittishness.

Pintails' 

Chaffinch 

I headed back to the visitor centre, passing a squealing water rail in the reeds by the hide. A small flock of goldfinches were trying to get a go at the feeders but the greenfinches and chaffinches weren't for letting it happen. I had to walk around a marsh tit on the path, it was very intent on something in the gravel.

Marsh tit 

I got the next train back. Fortunately so, it started pouring down before we got to Carnforth. It had been another lazily productive day's birdwatching.