Leighton Moss

Dabchicks

I had slept the sleep of one who was finally dozing off at three in the morning when they got a 'phone call from somebody saying they couldn't sleep. I wanted to get some birdwatching done before Storm Dave came out to play so I got me an old man's explorer ticket and headed for Silverdale, the idea being to do a hit and run at Leighton Moss before the weather turned iffy and take a circuitous route home to see what I could see.

There seemed to be a lot of pheasants and roe deer about as the train went to Preston. At Preston we had an interesting interlude where everyone decamped from the Barrow train and got onto the York train which became the Barrow train and everyone decamped from the York train to get on the Barrow train which became the York train. No, me neither. Anyway, we were only a few minutes late getting to Silverdale and we'd passed through the belt of pouring rain and the weather had become mild and gloomy, grey and misty.

Chaffinch

The hideout was busy with mallards and chaffinches. I hung about for a bit just in case a marsh tit might want to make an appearance but it wasn't happening. So I wandered round to Lilian's Hide where a little gull had been reported first thing.

Dabchicks

The black-headed gulls had settled their nesting territories on the rafts and islands. Their cries were drowned out by the hinneying calls of dabchicks as two pairs squabbled in front of the hide.

Dabchicks

Dabchicks

Dabchick, one of the males charging at the other pair

Dabchicks, a riposte

Dabchicks, a victory yell

The black-headed gulls were positively sedate in comparison. A few mallards and fewer teal dozed by the water's edge. A pair of shovelers dozed by the hide and I nearly missed a couple of redshanks asleep in the grass. The coots and pochards swam about in pairs, the tufted ducks in small groups of a handful of birds, a couple of greylags might have been a pair, a mute swan slept on its own by the far reeds. A few sand martins zipped about over the pool, mostly at tree top height, seldom coming in lower.

Black-headed gulls

Three marsh harriers floated over the reedbed, all females, one immature and two adults. High above the misty hilltops a buzzard was being harassed by crows.

Moving on, I decided I'd head for the Causeway Hide. I've only given it a cursory look so far this year, I should do better, and if the little gull wasn't on Lilian's it might be on there.

The boardwalk to the causeway 

I kept an eye out for marsh tits as I walked over to the causeway but had no luck. There were plenty of chiffchaffs and Cetti's warblers and a water rail squealed from the reedbed as I reached the causeway.

Powdered ruffle lichen

The causeway

The weather was getting gloomier and more sand martins drifted in to hawk over the reedbeds and pools. I decided I wasn't going to push my luck with a walk down to the Lower Hide, I'd spend half an hour at the Causeway Hide then make tracks back to the station for the train.

Mute swan. cormorants and great black-backs

The water was high on the Causeway Pool but the great black-backs were determined they were loafing on the island come what may. A loose herd of mute swans drifted about, cormorants loafed and tufted ducks cruised about in lines. Black-headed gulls passed to and fro rarely bothering to stop. Coots were busy nest-building, chugging about the pool with lengths of reed. A great crested grebe fished just in front of the pool, one time it emerged from the water just in front of a coot which dropped its bit of reed in a panic and silently bustled away. Had it not been in nest-building mode it would have made a hell of a racket.

Coot

Cormorant

Great crested grebe

Great crested grebe

On the way back I noticed some little Potentillas flowering in the wall by the road. It felt early for them to be barren strawberries. A chap passing by as I was taking photos checked on Google Lens and got the answer barren strawberry. And so they proved to be when I got home and checked the photos with my reference books. And it turned out that they weren't all that early, I've just not been noticing them until late in their season.

Barren strawberry

I got back to the station as the train to Corkicle got in (there's rail track work going on so it doesn't get through to Carlisle). I got on and got off at Arnside to have five minutes' look at the Kent Estuary before the Manchester train came in. The tide was high and the bank just upstream was littered with curlews and jackdaws.

Kent Estuary at Arnside

On the way back there didn't look to be a lot on the pools by the coastal pools. A few shelducks were disturbed by the train, a great white egret stalked a drain, some little egrets loafed on islands by feeding mute swans and I spotted a couple of avocets. I'll have to make a visit for a proper look here this month.

The rain kept off until I got home. I made a pot of tea, drank half a cup and crashed out asleep. Still, it had been a very good day's birdwatching in very uncertain weather.