Thank you very much Mr Hide. Sounds like you had a great visit. The big black bird you saw out near Allen car park, could quite possible have been a raven. Raven's nest on nearby Warton Crag, so it is not uncommon to get them around Leighton Moss. Their tails are diamond shaped when they fly, as opposed to crows which have a straight tail. Crow's are also much smaller, but size can be difficult to judge when they're in flight, so the tails are often the best way to tell.
The furthest hide beyond Public hide is the Lower hide. Sounds like you got some cracking views of the snipe there!
As for the fish, I'm not too sure which it might be. One of the main 'fish' we get here is eels, but we also get rudd and roach. One of the likely culprits could actually be pike, although they tend to be more solitary. When the weather is nice, we commonly get pike basking near the surface in the dyke that runs under the causeway. They are a favourite food for herons and goosanders.
I hope this helps. Many thanks.
Saw huge black bird yesterday near Allen Hide car park. I am pretty sure that it was a Raven (am useless with Corvus)but no mention of any sightings on the website.
Other than that had yet another fabulous day at Leighton Moss. The highlight was a snipe right beneath the window at hide (can't remember its name) way out beyond the Public Hide. We looked right down on top of it from the window. Almost got my head stuck but just squeezed out before we had to call the Air Sea rescue helicopter out..
Great views at Allen hide of the Avocets, Black tailed Godwits, Curlews, Egrets and many others.
Saw loads of fish including several quite big stripey ones?? just off the causeway. It looks like no one has told the herons that they are always hiding there.
Thanks to all the staff and volounteers for providing a great experience.
Cheers
Mr Hide
Hi Annabel,
Thanks for your reply re the fish and ravens.
Just to say re the fish, apparently the striped fish are perch, There was a shoal of about a dozen visible from the causeway.
Always nice to learn something new,
Hi Mr Hide. That's really useful to know, thanks very much!