The Lakes, Day 5. Leighton Moss Birding

 As usual, we had an excellent day at Leighton Moss and the birding was good with 39 species including greenshank, marsh tit and great white egret. An added bonus was buying some new binoculars for my Christmas present.

Chaffinch

Chaffinch

Goldfinch in moult

Blue tit

Goldfinch

Bearded Tits on grit tray

Bearded Tits on grit tray

Cormorant

Cormorant

Pintail

Snipe

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.

Bramblings at North Cave Wetlands

 Although still very cold, the clear sunny conditions had come to an end and it was grey and overcast, but only 3C as I parked in Dryham Lane at the entrance to North Cave Wetlands YWT reserve. I quickly gathered all of my gear, donned the wellies and set off into the reserve. The viewing platform opposite the Butty Van, overlooking Village Lake, is always a useful place to start. As usual there were good numbers of wildfowl including wigeon, teal, mallard, coot, tufted duck and gadwall. I love to hear the whistling of the wigeon and the bubbling call of curlew echoed over the lake. There were plentiful small birds in the hedge and on the feeders too.

 I was keen to move on and get to the maize field feeders where 50+ brambling were said to be found. I was not disappointed. As I arrived there was a whirring of wings and everything disappeared but the birds quickly returned including the bramblings. I was delighted; apart from a brief glimpse of some at Whisby last year I hadn't seen any of these colourful finches for years. At a quick glance they could be mistaken for chaffinches but they are more orange and far more colourful. As far as we are concerned bramblings are winter visitors to our shores breeding in upland birch forest in Fenno-Scandia. I was delighted to see a fair number of tree sparrows here as well as all the other usual suspects to a winter feeding station.

Having secured plenty of photographs I continued on my way around the reserve. I was pleased to see that the two egyptian geese were still present on the flooded fields to the north of the reserve.

I was hoping to see the usual tawny owl near the NW corner but it must have been tucked away today. There was very little to see from Crossland Hide overlookng Cell A, perhaps because the water was frozen. There were one or two green woodpeckers 'yaffling' around the area, though, which was good to hear. Moving on down Dryham lane back towards the car and Butty Van was another feeding station which again came up trumps as far as brambling were concerned and there were larger numbers of tree sparrows here as well as goldfinches, greenfinches and tits.

Goldfinch

Goldfinch

Greenfinch

Long-Tailed Tit

Long-Tailed Tit

Reed Bunting

Tree Sparrow

Tree Sparrow

Tree Sparrow