Leighton Moss is wonderful all year round, with something exciting to see every season. I think my favourite time of year has to be autumn though. The leaves in the woodland are a rainbow of colour with golds, reds, greens and browns, rustling in the wind and carpeting the floor of the paths as you stroll to Tim Jackson and Grisedale hides. When there, you've got a good chance of spotting our largest residents, the red deer. Several stags and hinds have been seen by excited visitors this week.
It's not just the trees that change colour. In autumn the golden reeds are tipped with purple seeds. As they sway in the breeze, the reeds scatter the seeds and it is these that provide the main food source for one of our cutest residents-the bearded tits. If you head down the Causeway on a fine morning at the moment, you stand a very good chance of seeing these otherwise fairly elusive birds, on the grit trays. They need this grit to help them to grind up the hard reed seeds at this time of year, when they've changed their diet from the insects they eat in spring and summer.
Just past sat the grit trays, you'll reach Causeway hide. This has been a fantastic spot this week for sightings of otters. They can pop up at all times of the day, so keep your eyes peeled for the tell-tale signs that they are around. You'll sometimes see the ducks or coots on the water dashing across the pool in the same direction if an otter is swimming under the water. You then usually spot an otters head emerge above the surface for a moment before they dive under and you see their slim tail flick up as they start 'porpoising' (where they roll in the water, up and down, like mini Loch Ness Monsters).
As well as the gorgeous otters, a great white egret has been delighting visitors by coming into land right in front of Causeway hide. This relative of the grey heron can be distinguished from its smaller cousins, the little egrets, by its yellow beak, dark feet and its larger size.
Great white egret being photo bombed by an otter! Image by Mark Wilson
From the top of our Skytower, you'll not only get the best views of the whole reserve and surrounding Arnside and Silverdale AONB, it's also a top place for spotting a marsh harrier hunting over the reeds. There's at least one that has decided to stay with us when the others have flown south for the colder months. A couple of lucky visitors and our Kevin also saw a fly-by from a short-eared owl yesterday afternoon, over the reedbed past Lilian's hide. We don't often see these stunning birds at Leighton Moss so it was a real treat.
We've had a few questions about the starling murmuration this week. They've not arrived back yet, they usually come early to mid-November, depending on what the weather's like. This massive autumnal swell in numbers is due to an influx of starlings from Europe who have come to spend the colder months in the UK. It is still pretty mild at the moment, but they shouldn't be long.
As I mentioned in my blog last week, we're excited to be installing a new boardwalk at the moment to improve access to the Causeway. Whilst the path to the Causeway is being levelled, it has been temporarily closed. We have created a diversion through the field next to it so you can still get to the Causeway. The diversion is sign posted and staff and volunteers in the visitor centre will be happy to direct you where to go.