Visited this a.m.
Finally, after 31 or is it 32 years? ,seen a bearded tit there. Eating grit on table just off the causeway a fantastic male at 11.05 a.m. Also lots of ducks incl gadwall, shovellor, pochard, teal, wigeon, mallard.
Allen/Morcambe hides also saw, little egret, greenshank, redshank, spotted redshank, black tailed godwit, shelduck, curlew, lapwing, cormorant, pintail, heron, kingfisher.
Also went to Woodwell where ive seen hawfinch in the past ,but not today

In the morning of Sat 20th Oct I thought it would be nice to see a Hawfinch, so I drove straight to Woodwell and the first bird I put my bins on was ........ a Hawfinch even managed to scope it Crikey, I been coming here for years and I usually dip. I saw just one bird in a beech tree opposite Bracken cottage.

Lots of dudes about at the reserve, so didn't go on it, apart from a quick peek at the GW Egret and a visit to the loo, there was an RSPB bins and scope demo outside. Wish I hadn't looked through those 10X42 EL Swarovski bins how much ££££ !!!

-- Edited by Pete Hines at 20:38, 2007-10-22

21/10/07
Had a excellent walk around Leighton moss and on the coastal path to Jenny Browns point today.

On the moss,
Grizedale hide , 1 male Stonechat , 2 Grey wagtails ,plenty of Teal ,Shoveler, Mallard, 1 Water Rail, 3 Garganey.
1Bittern flying over the top of the Causeway and over the Silverdale golf course.
Another good view of a Bittern from the public hide, Kingfisher flying in front of the hide with the usual ducks and gulls on the lake.

Allen hide.
Great White Egret in front of the hide, as close as 30m , a brilliant photo opportunity and guess who forgot to take his camera today.
5 Little Egrets, 2 Greenshanks, 1 Common Sandpiper, plenty of ducks,gulls and Godwits and a distant view of a Peregrine.

Coastal path to Jenny Browns point.
Up to 12 very vocal Ravens over,
2 Buzzards, 2 Kestrels , 1 Sparrowhawk over.
6 Snipe, 9 Pied wagtails , 2 Curlew, 3 Oystercatchers on the marsh,
Lots of Curlew,Shelduck and gulls on the mud flats
1 Arctic Skua over.
Also a very distant SE Owl sat on a post in the middle of the marsh.

I went looking for the Hawfinches in the woods but only found 4 Siskin , 3 Greenfinches and 2 Goldcrests.

Its worth going up just to see the GW Egret which I was told has been present on and off since July.

Hi Dean

You had more than I did. Working in Arneside yesterday morning, visited Allen Pool en route

between -6.00 - 08.00

Spoonbill
7 Litle Egret
Spotted Redshank
Knot
Ruff
Buzzard
3 Greenshank
Numerous Black-Tailed Godwit
Numerous Redshank
Kingfisher

Went today wed 15 aug.

Pretty quiete on the reserve. Just missed a Bittern again

Much better on the Allen pools.

3 Spoonbill
1 Spotted Redshank
20 Little Egret
c20 Greenshank
Redshanks
Black Tailed Godwits
2 Ruff
6 Buzzards
1 juv Peregrine


Dean.

-- Edited by Dean Mac at 21:52, 2007-08-15

Went today Thurs 2nd Aug.

Usual stuff, but not much else until we got to Lower Hide. Then;-
Kestrel
Two Marsh Harriers for ages over reed beds and on trees behind
Osprey for ages, see diving and catching fish, and then chased and buffeted by Perigine

Didn't go in the end. Set off but decided against M6 in heavy rain and it takes forever on the A6.
So took a detour to Martin Mere, see that thread.

Dean.

Hope it's still there tomorrow. A Pectoral Sand reported on Birdguides today as well.
Here's hoping

Dean.

Spoonbill still on the Eric Morecombe Pool today Dean.

I'm off to Leighton Moss tomorrow. Hoping for Bearded Tit, Bittern, Marsh Harrier and Greenshank.

Dean.

Hi Steve,

I had a colour ringed Blackwit at Martin Mere last Sunday.

Left Leg - Lime green over orange
Right Leg - Orange over red.

This bird was also ringed in Iceland.

Cheers Kane

I was there two days after your posting and noted that one of the Blackwits was colour-ringed. Just had a report back from Iceland where the bird was ringed (presumably as a chick) 4 years ago. It flew over here that autumn and seems to have spent the rest of its life in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire or Lincolnshire.

Steve

first stop public hide watched a male marsh harrier flyover towards lilians aprox 11.30am.great black backed gull with 3 chicks directly infront of hide.also aprox 200 coot,20 gadwal,2 pochard.
lower hide watching female red deer at waters edge munching on grass also,family of reed bunting and reed warbler ,10 wigeon and malard.path to lowerhide 3 willow warbler and 2 chiffs
not much else happening so went to eric and ernies-flock of about 50 full summer plumage black tailed godwit,sedge and reed warblers,red brested merganser female,4 lapwing,1 curlew,20 teal,4 redshank and 3 herons.
great spotted woodpecker and chiff chaff along causway.

finished the day off watching young peregrine finishing off a fresh kill (jackdaw)just delivered by mum at warton crag.

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar at 20:30, 2008-06-13

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Saturday 13th of March 2010 10:00:01 AM