Leighton Moss

Hawthorn Shrub – Photo Credit Jarrod Sneyd 

Our Live Interpreter David Tregidgo has been out and about on the reserve and has some very interesting facts for us about some of the wildflowers that grow and flower around the reserve and how they fit into the biodiversity of the site. Dave delves into the scientific purposes of the plants and the benefits to other wildlife such as bees and butterflies and even the…

Long-tailed Tit Fledglings – Photo Credit Sue Westwood 

Wow, we’ve had another fantastic fortnight of blue skies and sunshine here at RSPB Leighton Moss.  Our amazing reedbed is coming alive with new green shoots and an abundance of new life. All the birds are busy nest building, sitting on eggs, protecting territories and taking food back to feed their young. As you wander around the reserve you can enjoy…

Greylag Gosling – Photo Credit Steve Ripley 

We have had some amazing weather over the last fortnight here at RSPB Leighton Moss and along with the sunshine and blue skies the summer visitors are starting to arrive. Sedge Warblers have been seen and heard singing in the reedbed on the path to the Eric Morecambe hide as well as a Whitethroat. The first Swifts have been seen, and the first Damselflies have arrived…

Blackcap in Blackthorn – Photo Credit Sue Westwood 

Spring is in full swing here at RSPB Leighton Moss. With the recent beautiful warm and sunny weather, the Reserve is alive with birdsong, emerging insects, butterflies, and plant life.  Frogspawn can be found along the woodland path edges on the way to Grisedale and Tim Jackson hides, Blackcaps can be seen and heard in the beautiful Blackthorn which is in flower…

Lower Hide - Photo Credit Steve Ripley

Great news!! Lower Hide is now ‘OPEN’!  

The recent Spring Equinox heralds the official start of Spring, and the weather has been great with lots of lovely sunshine! Bitterns are busy moving around the Reserve looking for females and their booming can be heard across the whole Reserve. They can sometimes be seen flying low across the tops of the reedbed ‘gull calling…

Whooper Swans Flying – Photo Credit Jarrod Sneyd 

Spring is awakening here at RSPB Leighton Moss; Lesser Celandine are starting to flower along the woodland paths and Crocus are in full bloom in the sensory garden. Frogs are makings lots of noise in various locations around the Reserve including the Causeway, Comma Butterflies and Brimstone have been spotted, and Bitterns are booming everywhere. Some of our resident…

Bittern – Photo Credit Jarrod Sneyd 

We are excited to confirm the arrival of the first Avocet this year on Allen Pool last weekend, by Thursday we had a further four arrive. The Avocet is a distinctively patterned black and white wader with a long up curved beak. Avocets are protected by the Schedule 1, which makes it an offence to disturb them. It is also the emblem of the RSPB, which you will see in our logo…

Swans at Dusk - Photo Credit Sue Westwood 

The daylight hours are getting longer, the small birds are singing, and busy checking out nesting sites and the wildfowl are starting to protect their territories with some spectacular water battles! This is an exciting time of year to visit the reserve, why not come and join us on the Winter Walks at Leighton Moss on Sunday 16 February 9.30am - 11.30am - Our local guide will…

Truxor Reed Management – Photo Credit Jarrod Sneyd 

After the recent storm we have been enjoying some lovely sunny days here at RSPB Leighton Moss over the last fortnight, with lots of early signs that spring is in the air! Bitterns have started to boom, Marsh Harriers are sky dancing and Snowdrops are starting to flower in the garden and woodland areas. Golden hour in the mornings and evenings has provided some…

Wintery Causeway Picture – Photo Credit Steve Ripley 

What a cold start to 2025! The icy conditions really did turn RSPB Leighton Moss into a stunning winter wonderland for a few days. Whilst some of our resident birds hunkered down, our highly secretive Water Rail were showing well all around the reserve. Visitors were reporting seeing as many as six on their visit which is amazing. Water Rail are smaller and distinctly…

Starling Murmuration Photo Credit Jarrod Sneyd 

What an amazing start to 2025, large numbers of Starlings coming in to roost in the reedbeds at RSPB Leighton Moss. With the recent wet and windy weather, the Starlings have been coming straight in to roost in the reedbeds. Monday was a lovely clear evening, and we were treated to a fabulous display and murmuration's as at least 60,000 Starlings arrived at the roost and…

Wildfowl on Lillian's Pool Photo – Credit Jarrod Sneyd 

It has been a fabulous fortnight here at RSPB Leighton Moss, the pools are full of wildfowl and the sky is full of Marsh Harriers hunting and sky dancing.  There have been as many as seven Marsh Harriers in the air at the same time which is amazing to see.  We have seen the occasional Bittern flight, and an Otter was spotted in Grisedale pool earlier this…

Male Marsh Harrier – Photo Credit Jarrod Sneyd 

The last couple of weeks has seen some very mixed weather here at RSPB Leighton Moss including some very icy conditions! Following the first few frosts of the year the number of Bearded Tits visiting the grit trays increased much to the delight of our visitors. If you are lucky enough to get any pictures of ringed Bearded Tits on your visit, please do let the Welcome…

Robin - Photo Credit Jarrod Sneyd

This week has seen the first heavy frosts of the winter which has bought our gorgeous Bearded Tits out in good numbers to top up on the grit from the grit trays. After a break of five years, we have started to ring the Bearded Tits again. There will be more information on this and the history of the Bearded Tits at Leighton Moss coming very soon in a separate blog. Keep a look out on…

With the falling golden leaves it really does feel autumnal and magical here at RSPB Leighton Moss. Our pools are full of a variety of beautiful colourful ducks such as Teal, Shoveler, Pintail, Wigeon and let's not forget the Mallards all in their lovely winter plumage. Keep a look out as you wander along the woodland paths for flashes of red, yellow and green as our winter visitors take cover in the trees, Redwing…

Photo Credit Jarrod Sneyd

The golden hours of sunrise and sunset are absolutely stunning on the reserve at this time of year with the beautiful vivid autumn colours and the falling leaves. At dawn and dusk the haunting sounds of the Red Deer stags ‘roaring’ can be heard around the reserve. Between September and November, its ‘Rutting Season’ when the stags and young bucks are protecting their females and warning off…

October at RSPB Leighton Moss is the prime time of year for getting a good look at our resident Bearded Tits. They often live deep within the reed beds and can be very illusive as they have enough food resources within the reed beds during the spring and summer months so that they can remain well hidden!  They eat insects and other invertebrates throughout the summer when they are in good supply. In the autumn when this…

 

Wow, what fabulous weather we’ve seen over the last two weeks here at RSPB Leighton Moss. The Bearded Tits appear to be a little earlier than usual this year and are showing very well on both sets of grit trays already. The Otters have been delighting our visitors at Lower Hide, on the Causeway and at Lilians Hide over the last two weeks. Come along and see if you can spot some of our wonderful wildlife here at…

We have had a fabulous fortnight here at RSPB Leighton Moss, we are excited to report that we’ve had regular sightings of Kingfishers delighting our visitors from Lower, Causeway and Lilian’s hides and from the bridge over the main dyke on the Causeway just beyond the Causeway Hide.  This is amazing as the more regular sightings are usually reported from the Eric Morecambe Complex. Despite its brightly-coloured…

As a reedbed reserve Leighton Moss is home to some real specialist wildlife, species which are reliant on the particular conditions of a reedbed in order to feed themselves and raise their young. One of those species is the Bearded Tit also known as ...

Autumn Migration and Passage Visitors 

As the school summer holidays end, it’s hard to believe we’ve had a summer this year! We appear to have skipped straight from spring to autumn. Hopefully the weather outlook is set to improve for a while, starting from this weekend!  Some birds have already started their migration southwards, but as we move into September you will notice the transition as our summer visitors…

We have had a very busy couple of weeks here at RSPB Leighton Moss.  

We had a fly-past of a rare Purple Heron  last weekend, seen at Lower Hide. The last time we had a visit from a Purple Heron here at RSPB Leighton Moss was in August 2023. This bird tends to hide more than the Grey Heron and stalks its quarry of fish, eels and the occasional small mammal, raising its head to the sky at times like a Bittern would, to blend…

Here's Sue with the latest sightings blog from RSPB Leighton Moss.

Wow, what a fabulous fortnight with sunshine, sunsets and rainbows and exciting, rare visits from a Pectoral Sandpiper, Curlew Sandpiper and Common Tern over at the Eric Morecambe and Allen Hides. We have also had reports of Common Sandpipers, Greenshanks, Turnstone and growing numbers of Lapwing and Redshank over at the saltmarsh. Every now and then…

From Thursday 1 August to Thursday 8 August, there will be significant disturbance on the Eric Morecambe and Allen Pools as the Warden team get to work on some more improvements and repairs to the saltmarsh pools.

Last summer the Wardens carried out some repairs to the banks of the Eric Morecambe pool. The plan was always to continue with further bank repairs this summer, with a focus on the Allen Pool. We will also…

UPDATE 25/01/2025 We're pleased to say that good progress is being made on the hide construction. The contractors have been working hard during some pretty unpleasant weather in 2025. There is now a roof and walls on the hide. We're expecting deliver...