As seems to be the case just lately, all the 'unusual' birds visiting the nature reserve continue to play a little hard to get!
In recent days we've had all-too-brief Hen Harrier (Friday) at the saltmarsh, and this morning (Saturday) a not-unexpected Black Tern put in an appearance at Causeway Pool. This species is a fairly regular scarcity here and they often tend to hang about for a while but unfortunately this individual didn't stick around. After heading off toward the coast it was seen again, feeding over the saltmarsh. Given the weather, there's every chance we may see more Black Terns dropping in, or indeed our short-stayer may even return. Fingers crossed! (Black Tern photo from archive, by Mike Malpass)
Meanwhile, visitors to Leighton Moss this week been having a great time with Otters, Bitterns, Hobbies, Ospreys, Red Deer and Great White Egrets among the stars of the show. We also had some terrific dragonfly days with lots of activity from Migrant Hawkers, Common Darters and Brown Hawkers in particular.
As we mentioned last week, work out on the saltmarsh carried on at pace as the wardening team embarked on some mucky mayhem. This was all in the cause of saving nature and improving the birdwatching experience on the Allen and Eric Morecambe pools. The majority of their work has been to do vital repairs to the bank around the Eric Morecambe pool, essential for retaining water. However, we'll now have more water control too, as part of the works also include a connecting pipe between the Eric Morecambe pool and the 'middle flood' beyond it. This potentially allows us to drawdown water levels in the main pool to improve conditions for wading birds but with the ability to top them up. Also, added in, some 'messy' mucking about with the topography of the pool - the kind of dynamic management that tends to draw the birds in! (Photo by Jarrod Sneyd)
Now that this work is complete (for now at least!) it'll be interesting to see how the birds respond to the improved area. Wader migration is just hotting up at the moment, so there should be plenty to see down there in the coming weeks. Don't forget to pass on your sightings to us if you do visit!
Jon