Gary Gorner wrote:

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sizergh castle in the car park area is supposed to be good for hawfinch as well its somewhere i will be trying once the leaves have dropped it would be a lifer for me

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I've been three times but too many leaves during the summer - two quick visits to meet up with work colleagues but did see spotted Flycatchers in the formal garden bit during a family visit. I'm looking forward to bare trees and a few early morning winter visits!

sizergh castle in the car park area is supposed to be good for hawfinch as well its somewhere i will be trying once the leaves have dropped it would be a lifer for me

Gary, we must have been in the Public Hide at the same time as you. Great views of the Bittern and all those Beardies - fantastic. We went on to Woodwell in search of Hawfinch but we only saw Marsh tits. We saw the GWE at the EM Hide and we also had fantastic views of the Kingfisher there. Lots of waders to study incl 6 Greenshanks, 2 Spotted reds and 2 Bar-tailed godwits.

sat 10.10.09

Great day out with Vernon first stop was at the quarry with many jackdaws about and already getting very protective of their nest holes.No sign of the peregrines
On to the eric and ernie hides and the fog was getting worse but could still make out several greenshank cracking views of the kingfisher and a water rail right next to the hideThe walk to the hides was also productive with a huge flock of greenfinch approx 70 birds a few goldfinch and a pair of willow warblers heweeting in the scrub.
We decided to move to the main reserve in the hope the fog would be less like pea soup.It was a wise move a we timed it right for once the bearded tits were all over the grit trays with several birds showing for a good few hours. The public hide was on top form also with a bittern flying from right to left and crashlanding in the edge of the reeds giving great views for the photographers for several minutes before dissappearing into the reeds.
We then decided to head to heysham for the high tide stopping at the lookout point were we found the great white egrets on the far left allen pools by now the fog had cleared
Heysham saw shag.cormorant,oystercatchers,redshank and a surprise for vernon and another tick for him a lone eider duck female .After the usual ice cream we tried the local brew nettle flavoured which im told puts hairs on your chest etc PS VERNON STOP TRYING TO AVOID CAR PARKING TICKETS
opps forgot the med gull at ernie hide

-- Edited by Gary Gorner on Monday 12th of October 2009 07:06:05 AM

Bearded Tits !!!

A cracking day's birding in the Leighton Moss area produced 42 species with the following of note starting with a Peregrine at Warton Crag and fantastic views of 2 Great White Egrets and 38 Little Egrets from the viewpoint about 1 mile north of the Crag looking down onto the bay. Then onto the causeway where the Bearded Tits gave a fine display - there were at least 6 on show on and around the grit trays and calling from the reeds for about half an hour mid morning. The public hide produced 5 Greenshank, a single Spotted Redshank and a Marsh Harrier. A pit stop at the reserve reception area for lunch gave the usual 2 Marsh Tits at the feeding station. Had a look over the almost flat calm Morcambe bay at high tide but very little to see - similar results at Woodwell looking for the Hawfinches - they are reported to be around but too many leaves still on the Hornbeam where they are reputed to be feeding. So despite a quiet finish another excellent day up North.

P.S. Found a group of 5 - 6 Swallows just outside Warton on the way home.

-- Edited by sid ashton on Wednesday 7th of October 2009 06:37:02 PM

Sunday morning visit (4th October) produced the following:-

2 Marsh Tit at feeding station.

Amazing views of a Male and Female Bearded Tit on the grit tray with the added bonus of another 7 Bearded Tits in flight over the causeway.

1 Great White Egret from Eric Morecambe hide which was hidden well in a ditch but occasionally showed itself.

Female Marsh Harrier from Lower Hide.

Also several Greenshank amongst the usual others.

Popped in at Heysham on way home and although the weather was too good for any Leech's etc, we did manage to see:-

5 Eider
1 Guillemot
Oystercatchers (Huge flocks)
Knot
Turnstone
and finally great views of an adult winter Med Gull.

All in all, a great day's birding!!!

Both GW Egrets were feeding in the far pool to the left of the Eric Morecambe hide today.
Also seen

46 Little egrets
100's of Redshank and Godwits
1 Spotted Redshank
1 Greenshank
8 Snipe
2 Buzzards
1 Curlew

Leighton moss was very quiet , the highlight being a close up view of a Kingfisher and 8 Swallows feeding before their long flight South.

Best birding moment so far today when a flying visit to Leighton Moss saw me looking for a Great White Egret reported from the Grisedale Hide only to see another GWE land - eventually they emerged from the reeds to feed together and I got some OK shots [at 200m+] Even got reported on the pagers and it looks likely one of them which was colour ringed is a three year old bird from Loire Atlantique in sunny France and has been in Lancashire for at least a week.

Now as I knew one was there but I saw two, does the second count as self found...

I'll send Ian a shot for the Out of County section.

Not my photo I'm afraid Sid but I wish it was

The amount of times I have checked that grit table only to find nothing sat on it except grit.

Dave, indeed a cracking picture - when did you take up photography?

An excellent photo of the Nightjar on the grit tray can be seen here;

http://www.lancasterbirdwatching.org.uk/forum/read.php?4,28312

I saw the bird at midday - what an amazing sight. There were loads of people there and I am surprised that it was not spooked. I believe though that Nightjars are very confident that they cannot be seen.

Another Nightjar was found with a broken wing in Silverdale a couple of weeks ago. It makes you wonder if there is breeding going on in that area, or whether it is a traditional migration stopover spot.

...and I couldn't even find a Beardie when I was there last week

-- Edited by sid ashton on Saturday 19th of September 2009 03:15:52 PM

Apparently there's a Nightjar sat on one of the Bearded Tit grit trays today at the reserve. What a sight that must be! Oh, and a Great White Egret.
Henry.

fine thanks gary have you looked at the back of the seats
vernon

12.09.09
Eric and Ernie hides were top notch water levels perfect and the birds didnt dissappoint either.We saw kingfisher,spotted,redshank,curlew,lots of redshank and black tailed godwits,6 greenshank and very close up views of little egrets ,the most ive ever seen here 20.
Snipe seamed to be evrywhere lots of juvs.
from the puplic hide we were more entertained with the migrant hawker dagonflies than the birds although we did see buzzard,2 egyption geese and great crested grebe .
The beardies wernt playing ball today on the grit trays
Vernon also had a great spotted woodpecker which i failed to get on but we saw chiff chaff and willow warblers just to remind us that summer is still here
Hows the stomach vern thatll teach you to pog apples and plums.oh and half pound of licorice,6 jam butties,6 fairy cakes,packet of crisp and an ice cream.


-- Edited by Gary Gorner on Monday 14th of September 2009 12:54:46 PM

Ian, we seem to have 2 Leighton Moss threads going so I'll stick with this one as it was the original.

The day started off with a walk up the River Ribble around Brockholes Quarry - of note there were 4 Goosander on the river, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard and Hobby over along with 2 Raven. On to Warton Crag where the two young Peregrines were calling and showing off their acrobatic skills in the strong wind. There were 2 Raven here also.

A short visit to the public hide at Leighton Moss gave excellent views of a male Marsh Harrier and finally at the Eric Morecambe Hide 16 Little Egret, several Greenshank, Curlew, Teal, Blackwit and a female Peregrine chasing about with apparently little success.

-- Edited by sid ashton on Wednesday 9th of September 2009 07:10:06 AM

This is for the Dragonfly enthusiasts out there.

Next time you are birding Leighton Moss a short detour to Middleton Industrial Estate near Heysham is recommended. Star attraction is the now well-established Red-veined Darter but there is also a good selection of other species.

11.00 - 13.00 on a windless, sunny day is best. See post on Manchester Wildlife 'out of county'.

Cheers, John

Far too brief a visit to the Eric Morecambe hide today saw Little Egret right in front of the hide, fishing with great success by using its foot to stir the mud - guess its common Egret behaviour but never been close enough to see it before. Also Sedge Warblers feeding young, Black Tailed Godwits and Redshank didn't have my scope to search out the less common waders seen there recently.

Highlight was male Marsh Harrier using a thermal to gain height just the other side of the railway behind the hides - must have been hunting on the marsh the other side of the line as it dropped down rapidly after a few minutes.

A day up in Lancashire with Jonathan

Morecambe Hide

Lesser Whitethroat behind Morecambe/Allen hides
Wood Sandpiper showing well - one of 16 species of wader picked up today, including sandpiper hat trick
3 Greenshanks and 2 Spotted Redshanks
2 Dunlin
7 Little Gulls
22 Blackwits
7 Little Egrets
1 Marsh Harrier (female)

At Heysham a Whimbrel was present

Later followed by a trip to Sunderland point where Barwit, Eiders, Red-breasted Mergansers and 2 Knot (one stonking bird in summer plumage) were the highlights

On way back down a brief visit to Brockholes Quarry produced good views of Hobby plus Common and Green Sandpipers.

Cracking day's birding!

What better way to spend fathers day, watching peregrines and marsh harriers fledging nests and a full summer plumage spotted redshank to boot and little gulls more common than sparrows. A couple of avocet and sedges singing everywhere, but no sign of the little owl todayInteresting to see the black headed gulls trying to poo all over any marsh harriers brave enough to venture into their territory, just think we could save a fortune in Afganistan using these tactics

Others included Egret and two avocets at least

Warm day
Plenty of action from the Marsh Harriers
And the best was an Osprey which made two passes and moved off after being mobbed.

great weather for raptors and plenty of banter fodder. First to bite the bullet was a fairly large young black headed gull which was already feeding on the water.When suddenly all its parents hard work came to nothing as it was viciously killed by a Great black backed gull, not for the squeemish.It carried its prey off to the island infront of the public hide to feed its own chicks.
It wasnt a good day for the blackheads as buzzards and marsh harriers also took chicks.All this action raised the noise levels to unbarable so we moved on.
Infront of griesdale hide was a flock of aprox 200 blacktailed godwits in their fine summer coats.
A visit to the peregrines saw 2 chicks along with both parents .The chicks are still in their white plumage with darker wing bars and are showing well.
At the eric morcombe site was a pectoral sandpiper but only one avocet chick, predation seems to be a problem here for obious reasons.
Quite a few redshanks about and a couple of avocets,also 4 little gull.
approx 300 oystercatchers at Jenny browns point.
little owl ,hobby,also seen on travels and kestrel which made 6 species of raptors in total.



-- Edited by Gary Gorner on Monday 8th of June 2009 07:15:39 AM

I was thinking more of our trip to the Wirral as being special - RR Swallow et al

-- Edited by sid ashton on Sunday 24th of May 2009 06:14:34 AM

Well , the Marsh Harriers at Leighton Moss are pretty special to me. Not too many up north, unlike East Anglia where they are passed over as common.

Thanks Henry - kind of you to say so but nothing special eh

Good birding there Sid.
Cheers. Henry.

-- Edited by Henry Cook on Friday 22nd of May 2009 11:06:58 PM

Leighton Moss area today:-

Warton - The Peregrine family is doing well, watched Dad taking food in.

Jenny Browns Point - Pair of Red breasted Merganser, Great Skua and Eider Duck plus loads of Oyster Catchers at high tide.

Silverdale - Ladies Slipper Orchid (first flowers yesterday) worth seeing - no ID problems and it doesn't fly away

LM reserve - Pair of Marsh Harriers, Marsh Tit but sadly no Bearded Tits to be seen. Plus the usual suspects.

16.05.09
great days birding apart from the weather and the pepper pot
bittern booming from the back of the public hide
male and female marsh harriers and bearded tits, best seen from path up to grisdale the reed beds are just at the right hight.
marsh tits showing realy well from feeding station and now seem to be nearly as tame as the ducks around the picnic area
lesser whitethroat heared but not seen along path to eric and ernie hides rattling away.
2 little gull were a nice surprise here but a lack of anything else more interesting was dissappointing as the weather began to turn nasty.
2 peregrines also showed well


-- Edited by Gary Gorner on Sunday 17th of May 2009 07:28:55 PM

Just in case anyone else spots colour ringed Bearded Tits at Leighton Moss I've been in touch with the North Lancs Ringers who are interested in any reports - three colours used on each bird and they need to know which legs and which order the colours are and whereabouts they were seen, cheers, Peter

Sue and I went here today - we took her 10 year old daughter (Toni) for her first proper birding trip.
Jenny Browns Point - not a lot there apart from Redshanks and Blackwits. On to Leighton Moss where we had the following:

Marsh Harriers 2M 2F
Marsh Tits 2
Reed Ws 2 singing
Redshanks 200+
Blk T Godwits 1000+
Avocets 20+
Pintails 20+
Wigeons
Oystercatchers 10+
Whimbrel 1 (over car park at Eric and Allen hides)
Spotted Redshanks 3
Little Egrets 4
etc,etc.



-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Tuesday 21st of April 2009 06:18:46 PM

First visit for a number of years. 62 species in total.
Highlights included:

Ravens 4
Marsh Harriers 2M 3F
Marsh Tits 2
Treecreepers 2
Reed Ws 6+ singing
Reed Buntings 3 singing
Redshanks
Blk T Godwits
Avocets 24+
Pintails
Wigeons
Oystercatchers 5
Curlews 2
Curlew Sandpip 1
Spotted Redshanks 2
Little Egrets 2
etc,etc.
Also very nice scrambled egg on toast and scone in the cafe.

Far too quick a visit this morning [kids in tow again] my trick is to feed them [the kids that is] at each hide to keep them quiet!

Only went to western hides but really pleased to see three Bearded Tits [2m, 1F] - dispute over territory and close enough to see the coloured rings plus possible Spoonbill [which turned out to be a hunched up egret doing a spoonbill impression!]. Loads of egrets, sand martins, and noisy gull colony...

Also at the place which can't be named at this time of year - Peregrine pair getting friendly and some nice shots of the male displaying.

-- Edited by Pete Welch on Sunday 19th of April 2009 05:10:53 PM

Nice morning on the reserve in bright sunshine (9.00 - midday)

Started the morning with flight views of Bittern from the causeway , where male and female Marsh Harriers also put on a good show a bit later on. Could hear Bearded Tits pinging and Water Rails squealing but didn't see either of them. Only 2 Sand Martins and a single Chiffchaff representing spring arrivals, and plenty of winter waterfowl still around. Buzzards everywhere - at least a dozen or so, including displaying pairs, and several Ravens, Sparrowhawks and Kestresl also seen. 2 Little Egret from Grizedale hide. Marsh Tit and Nuthatch at the feeders, and a female Mallard on 22 eggs right by the car park.

On the Morecambe/ Allen pools, masses of waders incl 600+ Black Tailed Godwits (many in summer finery), a dozen or so Avocets, c100 Golden Plover, and single Spotted Redshank and Greenshank. A pair of Peregrine sailed overhead as we were leaving. Very enjoyable.

saturday not a good start, got to Blackburn motorway turn off and had a puncture which set me and vernon back a bit , anyway got to the quarry and saw the peregrine but no sign of the ravens or little owldashed off down to the grit trays hoping for the bearded tits but it was going to be one of those days ,no signs of them after waiting three quarters of an hour.Then sombody comes with a big camera and says did you see the bittern just fly over your head, by now i was feeling souicidal and retreated to the public hide.Things picked up a little with a brief sighting of the kingfisher and the great black backed gulls were on guard.Two distant buzzards were displaying nice but dissapeared over the distant wood.
we also managed to dip on the marsh tit but by this time the rain was lashing down we managed 2 little egrets from griesdale hide and 1 snipe and a further 3 snipe from the hide next to griesdale.all the usual wildfowl and ducks were on show and 2 male goldeneye displaying to 3 females was nice to see.
morcome and ernie hides were also very quit apart from the force 5 hooley blowing across the bay small flocks of redshank about but couldnt find the spotted they all had their heads tucked in most of the time .a few blacktailed godwits and curlews also dotted about. had a a chat with a friendly and informative guy didnt catch his name but friendly with jonathan platt.
last stop back at the quarry to watch the peregrine doing abit of ariel display and the ravens came back to check if the peregrine had left any scraps .
We still managed 52 bird species on what was realy an awfull day but the company was great £100 for a new tyre

A quick look ths afternoon on the way back from the Lakes.

Leighton moss was pretty quiet, all but one of the Marsh harriers have left and the remaining bird was floating about scaring the Lapwings.
2 Little Egrets from Grizedale hide and a Siskin briefly at the feeders were the highlights.

At Erics hide were 2 Greenshank, plenty of Godwits and Redshank , 3 L Egrets and excellent views of a Merlin perched on a post.
The Marsh harrier came in over the top of the hide and put up nearly all the waders and Lapwings.

Arrived 9.15a.m. with Paul Topping(a new recruit to this forum)
From Erics hide, Redshank and Spotted Redshank, Greenshank, Little Egret,Black Tailed Godwit, Lapwing and thats about it.
Leighton itself; more Greenshank and Black Tailed Godwit, Teal, Shoveler, Gadwall, Mallard, Tufted Ducks, Little Egret but best of all was the juv Marsh Harriers messing about with pretend (I think) fighting whilst in flight. Brilliant views and made the day
Cheers Ian

spent yesterday on the moss, had a cracking day's birding in beautiful weather with phil jennison.

highlights were a bittern - first for me and about bloody time, on my 8th visit. almost certain we caught a glimpse of 3 bearded tits flitting briefly across the reed tops but couldn't positive so, no tick just yet.

cracking views of the hobby, but somehow missed the osprey, must have been behind us - a problem with spending time in hides is the limited view of the sky.

salt marshes were a disappointment - a few redshank, a couple of blacktailed godwits, a single avocet and a single common sandpiper.
lots of lapwing went up to see off a peregrine cruising over. a sparrowhawk seen later and great views of a good few marsh harriers.

great day. a love birding, me.

a few C&P links of phil's photos for anybody who's interested to take a look...


http://homepage.mac.com/skiddo/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/bitpjen.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/skiddo/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/bitpjen1.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/skiddo/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/bitpjen2.jpg

http://homepage.mac.com/skiddo/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/drapjen.jpg








-- Edited by Paul Cliff at 21:20, 2008-07-14

Spent a pleasant afternoon. Went looking for the Cattle Egret that was spotted on Saturday. Unfortunately no sign. I don't think I'm going to get that one ticked off this year.

Did get 2 Marsh Harriers a Buzzard and 2 Spoonbills. Kept the other half happy with the Spoonbill. Lots of Avocets and BT Godwit.

14 jun

Had a crackin day today. First class views of 2 Marsh Harriers, hunting, displaying and a food pass Spent hours watching them. To be honest it was pretty quiete apart from the Harriers. But it's worth the trip for such great views of a stunning bird

Dean.

Had a great day on tues at L M ,weather was superb, Female Bearded Tit was a tick for me ,superb views of Marsh Harriers and yes Gary we did find the quarry thanks and the views of the Peregrines were fantastic. I would recommend to anyone if your going to go to L M wharton crag is well worth visiting as well.

10.06.07
nice to see the peregrine chicks both doing well but getting too brave for their own good,walking about along the cliff edge and wing flapping but still about two weeks to go before they fly for real.They now have some dark plumage patches along with the pale white.hundreds of jackdaw fodder about which im told the male takes for fun.

Eric and Ernie hides fairly quiet today 6 avocet,20+ redshank,one black tailed godwit the rest were on the main reserve seen later 2.30pm flying back to e/e hides.

around the reserve 2 buzzards and 4 marsh harriers,bearded tits nesting infront of griesdale hide only female seen though.One little egret which quite a few were hoping was a spoonbillsedge and reed warblers showing well and many tit families moving about from tree to tree.
plenty of dragonfly and damsel fly activity but no hobbys

nice to meet a fellow gm birder keith hope you found the quarry ok

sunny day today but the easterly wind was litterally bringing down trees.only one or two sedges brave enough to show themselves, most birds keeping very low.
The peregrines were doing a few flyovers at the quarry but generally missing the local jackdaw population,the two chicks seem to be doing fine. unfortunately not so the little owls,poor mr blobby has met his maker:
probably a ford focus.hope mrs blobby can manage on her own with the kids
eric and ernie hides great veiws of one of the spoonbill feeding on the morcombe pool, along with avocets with chicks,redshanks,lapwings,gadwal and shoveller.allan pool was brimming with black tailed godwits and a flock of 10 knot.great watching the black headed gulls with their chicks but a few crows were making of with their eggs.
4 marsh harriers hunting about but even these elegant flyers were struggling with the hooley.also heared a green woodpecker but not seen.plenty of graylags around with chicks and 2 more spoonbills infront of grisedale hide.

3 fledged ravens,2 peregrine,2 marsh harrier,2 marsh tit,1 green woodpecker,1 spoonbill,1 kingfisher,1 med gull,4 avocets,3 merganser 1 male 2 fem. bit of a hectic day as i locked my car keys in the car many thanks to all who helped especially steve and the rac.
still a great days birding finally got me a stonking photo of a sedge warb.i mean stonking for me

Phil,
See Woodpecker hat-trick thread for info on Woodwell.
As for Bearded tits I have just seen my first one at leighton after 32 years of visiting so Good Luck.
Cheers Ian

Phil,

The Bearded Tit was sat at Martin Mere all last week ( Mr Oddie)

Thinking of going to Leighton Moss at the end of this month.

Is it a good time to see the Bearded Tits??

Also wouldn't mind trying Wombwell, but again would this be a good time to see Hawfinch and if so, I need some directions please.

Many Thanks

Phil

Popped up for the afternoon on Sunday, but was with family so not all for birding. Mainly for the Starlings coming to roost, but managed to get round some of the hides too:

Journey Up M61/M6 - Buzzard (12+), Raven (2), Lapwing 500+).

Feeding Station - Willow Tit (1) with the usual finch/tits, several Nuthatch and a Rat eating from the bird table. Also a melanistic male pheasant.

Lilian Hide - Grey Heron, Teal (100), Wigeon (80+), Shoveller (30+) Pochard (6), Gadwall (15), Pintail (40+), Tufted Duck (80 +), Goldeneye (4), Mute Swan (2), Snipe (6), Lapwing (20+), Reed Bunting (2). Had a Common Shrew on path.

Public Hide - Grey Heron (1), Teal (40), Wigeon (26+), Pintail (18+), Shaoveller (25+), Pochard (18+), Gadwall (35+), Tufted Duck (50+), Goldeneye (2), Kingfisher (1), Sparrowhawk (1).

EM/Allen Hides - Grey Heron (3), Little Egret (7+), Great White Egret (1), Lapwing (600+), Golden Plover (30+), Black-tailed Godwits (65+), Knot (16+), Greenshank (1), Redshank (40+), Snipe (4+), Peregrine (1).

Starlings numbered around 15,000, while I counted 10 Little Egrets flying in to roost, but probably more.