RSPB Leighton Moss .... Revisited ....

Visited: Saturday 25th October 2014 / 10.45am - 6.15pm approx
Weather: Cloudy, dry & windy

I visited Leighton Moss back in February for the first time and I liked the reserve so much that I penciled in a return trip in the Autumn. Fast forward eight months and we're in October & with the Autumnwatch team recently descended on the site I decided it was time to pop back.

We arrived mid-morning (after the two hour drive) and I headed straight to the grit trays to see if I could catch a glimpse of the elusive Bearded Tits. The wind was up and the skies grey but fortunately my luck was in .... a stunning male in the reeds just behind one of the grit trays. A first for me, I have looked for them at various sites across the country before, without any joy, so it was a great start to the day! I didn't manage to get a photo I'm afraid as by the time I got the camera set up he was gone! Whilst admiring the Bearded Tit a fellow birdwatcher called out "Great White Egret" - binoculars to the sky and sure enough it was a Great White Egret, a brief fly over, but still fantastic to see.

Next onto the visitor centre to collect our passes and head out onto the reserve proper. First stops were the Public & Lower hides. At the public hide it was very quiet with all the usual suspects out on the water but nothing out of the ordinary. From the Lower hide however I saw three Whooper Swans fly past which was really nice, it's always good to see birds returning safely from their migration.

Above: View over the reserve from the public hide.

Above: View over the water in the woods.

Next stop after all this hard bird watching was the cafe! A cold drink & a slice of homemade lemon drizzle cake .... perfect! Chris Packham personally recommended the lemon drizzle cake on Autumnwatch last year and so I had to give it a try, it lived up to my expectations and it built the energy levels back up!

Above: I don't normally take pictures of food, but the lemon drizzle cake in the cafe was that scrumptious it deserved a photo!

Lilian's hide was where we headed next - half of the hide was closed as it is to be used as the Autumnwatch Extra studio - and from here I had splendid views of a Marsh Harrier hunting over the reeds in the distance. Lovely birds, Marsh Harriers, this is one of the best reserves in the country I would say to get reliably good views.

Above: View from Lilian's hide.

Tim Jackson hide was the next port of call, where upon entering the hide there were a group of people all standing in the one corner looking at something. On closer inspection it turned out to be a group of Red Deer. One hind & two stags. The hind was quite distant and partially obscured whilst feeding among the grasses & reeds a good way from the hide. The one stag was sitting down chewing the cud behind a fallen tree and so any photograph opportunities were limited, the other stag however was a little more daring and he was standing a little more out in the open.

Above: Red Deer stag seen from the Tim Jackson hide.

The final hide to be visited was the Grisedale hide, a couple more Red Deer hinds were seen from here, one very close and one further out on the horizon. I managed to film a short video ....

Above video: Red Deer hind in front of the Grisedale hide. Best viewed in 1080p HD full screen.

We spent a little while in the hide watching the wildlife surrounded by other nature watchers and also a BBC cameraman who had now set up his gear - he was filming the Red Deer also.

Back up to the visitor centre which - despite Autumnwatch setting up - was open as normal. At the back of the visitor centre there was a tent set up on the right hand side and a catering van for the BBC on the left hand side. Also the book shop had been converted into an office, this will be the technical hub for Autumnwatch 2014.

Above: The courtyard behind the visitor centre at Leighton Moss.

We now had a choice, head down to the Morecambe Bay part of the reserve where there are two more hides (as we had done during our visit back in February) or head back to the Lower hide as there had been several sightings of an Otter during the day, an animal I was still yet to see in the wild.

We decided to leave the Morecambe Bay part of the reserve this time and head back to the Lower hide. It was now getting on for 5pm and there was only about an hour or so of daylight left.

On arrival back at the Lower hide there was a Marsh Harrier out hunting over the reeds once more, although not as close as the one I had witnessed earlier from Lilian's hide. Other than that it was fairly quiet.

5.30pm approximately and I am looking over towards the right hand side of the hide to see if anything is about when suddenly something catches my eye to my left. Something in the water about 30 metres away, appearing and then disappearing, appearing and then disappearing, and so on. I put the binoculars up, oh my days, it's an Otter!! I have been wildlife watching for a few years now seriously and I have never before seen an Otter. I live in the Midlands where Otters are making a comeback - but for now - are quite difficult to see at the best of times. I have spent many an hour at both local nature reserves and reserves further afield not necessarily specifically looking just for Otters, but always hoping that one would show up .... and nothing. Whilst Otters are easier to see here from what I gather, I still didn't have a lot of expectations at the start of the day .... to finally see one in the water going about his / her (sorry I can't sex Otters!) business was a really nice way to end the day. I got some great views of the Otter eating what appeared to be a fish whilst continuously coming in and out of view. I managed to get some pretty poor footage, my camera's zoom didn't match up to my binoculars zoom but I still had to grab something as a record. I watched the Otter for a good while before heading back to the car as it was starting to get dusk. I did keep an eye out for a possible Starling murmuration on the walk back as whilst I had been sitting in the hide multiple small groups had whooshed past but I didn't manage to see anything.

Above video: Otter in front of the Lower hide. Best viewed in 1080p HD full screen.

I also did keep a look out for Chris & Michaela but alas no joy! There were plenty of cables, cameras and cameramen around the place but to be honest nothing got in the way and it was great to be on set if you like when they are so close to going live in the week. Overall it was a great day at Leighton Moss, I hope to return again soon - Autumnwatch 2014 starts there on Tuesday and I for one will most certainly be tuning in!

New species seen: Otter, Bearded Tit, Great White Egret.