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Jon C
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Please note that we have decided to close Lower Hide for the foreseeable future.
Regular visitors will know that we have made recent repairs to the hide including a new roof. We had also planned to undertake other works to revitalise the hide. However, recently we have identified potentially significant structural issues. These will require us to seek further advice on the seriousness of these issues. We have therefore made your safety a priority and taken the decision to close Lower Hide while we seek that advice and look to remedy any issues.
We will keep you informed of progress and we apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause.
Of course, there are still six hides and the Skytower to enjoy and all the wildlife you can see from Lower hide should be visible from elsewhere at Leighton Moss. Otters and bitterns have been seen at Causeway lately, and the egret roost is a sight to enjoy from that hide at dusk most days.
The Eric Morecambe and Allen Pools continue to attract multiple species of waders with recent highlights including little stints, curlew sandpipers and spotted redshanks among the black-tailed godwits, redshanks and greenshanks. An astonishing 7 great white egrets have also been counted at these coastal pools this week along with many little egrets.
Raptors too have been on show here with peregrine, marsh harrier, sparrowhawk and merlin all taking it in turns to spook the assembled shorebirds! Merlin photo copyright Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)
As we would expect at this time of year, the bearded tits are starting to use the grit trays along the Causeway and path to Grisedale Hide. Changing their summer diet of insects to a winter one of seeds means that the birds need to gather grit in their crop to help them digest the hard seeds and by providing a supply of grit we can help them in this process. This also means that visitors get the chance to observe these otherwise elusive reedbed dwellers at close quarters and better still we are able to monitor the Leighton Moss population thanks to the ongoing colour-ringing scheme. Bearded tit photo by Keith Kellet
If you are fortunate enough to see or photograph any bearded tits with colour rings please pass on the colour ring sequence (both legs is preferable) by emailing Leighton.moss@rspb.org.uk or johnwilson711@btinternet.com
If you'd like to join one of our special bearded tit guided walks, please click here for details.