Lake District, April 2024. Day 7, Our First Dry Day.

The sky was bruised-looking this morning, light from the east turning the blue-black clouds deepest indigo. It was to be a good day, however, with clearing skies and some sun with temperatures up to 16C. Leighton Moss and bird watching was the objective for today and we were pulling into the full car park at 11.00 am. Once checked in and a chat with the wardens as to what was about, and we were out on the reserve. The first stop was the feeding station where there were surprisingly few birds about and sadly no marsh tits. Next it was on to the comfort of Lillian's Hide where there were large numbers of pristinely smart tufted ducks and noisy black-headed gulls. A pair of great crested grebes were displaying over at the the far side of the lagoon; good to see but too far away for photography.

On our way along the Causeway we stopped at the grit trays put out for the bearded tits and I couldn't believe it when a pair of birds popped out onto the trays and then, better still when the male hopped back into the reeds and posed beautifully. It was rather late for them to be using the grit trays and perhaps the cold, wet weather meant that insects were few and far between. During the winter, when there are no insects, 'beardies' feed on reed seeds and fill their crops with grit to help process the seeds. During the summer, they feed on insects and have no need of the grit. I have lost count of the number of times I have been past these grit trays and seen no birds using them so it was a red letter day.

From Causeway hide there was another great crested grebe but it appeared to be on its own. A cormorant was stretching its wings to dry them and a pair of lesser black-backed gulls looked hunched and phlegmatic. It was a bit of a paddle to get to lower hide but worth it for the good views of my first sand martins of the year and a couple of gadwall. Summer visitors were starting to arrive, like the sand martins, and there were six warbler species now of which I managed 5: cetti's (here all the year round), chiffchaff, willow warbler, blackcap and reed warbler. I missed out on the sedge warblers. The other magical sign of spring was the booming of the bitterns, about 5 booming males. The bittern is a large secretive member of the heron family, streaked with muted brown tones which provide wonderful camouflage against the reeds. They need extensive reed beds and Leighton Moss is noted for them. When the males are displaying to defend territory and to attract a mate they produce a deep booming sound, rather like blowing over a milk bottle top, which can be heard up to three miles away. Marsh harriers are plentiful here with several pairs breeding in the reed beds and we were lucky enough to get good views of two.

All too soon it was time to leave and prepare for our son Thomas to arrive and stay the night with us.

Photos of bearded tit and bittern from my archive. Others from this visit include snakeshead fritillary and cowslips, bearded tits, chaffinch, great-crested grebes, coot, lichen, robin, gadwall, teal and tufted duck.