Hazy's thread: October - Last day at Leighton Moss (beardies, bittern and bunting et.al )

Wow Fabulous Hazel. Looks like your having a brilliant time and the birds are performing well for the camera...cracking Kingie ;-)

O'h well done Hazy, you are having some special sightings up there at LM., good weather too by the look of it. Lovely to see the Great Egret and of course the Kingfisher too, really clear shots. Marsh Tits and Marsh Harriers all so clear, now I am looking forward to the Otters and Bitterns in the plural!!!!!!

Fabulous photos again Hazel all brilliant, well done with the Marsh Tit not seen one myself but I live in hope.

Hazel,I think we eere watching that same Kingfisher on Saturday morning. We rented a cottage, Keepers Lodge at Brackenthwaite Farm, near Yealand Storrs for Friday to Monday. This was to meet with friends living up the road at Milnthorpe. We visited the Moss on Saturday but found it quiet birdwise. I think the high tide was not high enough to push birds up towards the saltmarsh hides but it was good to see the Great Egrets and your Kingfisher got loads of attention. The cafe was up to its usual high standard setting us up for a walk around the reserve. It was a case of no room at the inn at Lillisns hide,the camera noise was deafening so we had a walk to the causeway, that boardwalk is brilliant. It was a bit late in the day for Beardirs on the the grit trays but we had good views of Otter with two cubs from the causeway hide. A walk to the far hide only got a few Tufted Duck and another Great Egret but it is a lovely walk. I reckon that hide must be for replacement soon. Maybe a bit disappointing but we spent plenty of time catching up with friends and ee eill certainly be booking the cottage again to spend more time around the Moss,hope your visit is more productive

Fabulous additions Hazel, and the great white egret flying as graceful as Concord looked as graceful as the old girl herself when she made her annual visits into Birmingham Airport.

Digressing,on Concords final flights before retirement, I was just leaving work, and work was in the flightpath of aircraft arriving or departing from Birmingham. Whilst waiting at the traffic lights, I could hear a distant rumble, and just in front of me, was Concord as she made her last ever departure from Birmingham.

Anyway, back to the photos, a fabulous set and always a pleasure to see.

Thanks everyone, your kind comments much appreciated. 

Wendy S said:

Hazel,I think we eere watching that same Kingfisher on Saturday morning. We rented a cottage, Keepers Lodge at Brackenthwaite Farm, near Yealand Storrs for Friday to Monday. This was to meet with friends living up the road at Milnthorpe. We visited the Moss on Saturday but found it quiet birdwise. I think the high tide was not high enough to push birds up towards the saltmarsh hides but it was good to see the Great Egrets and your Kingfisher got loads of attention. The cafe was up to its usual high standard setting us up for a walk around the reserve. It was a case of no room at the inn at Lillisns hide,the camera noise was deafening so we had a walk to the causeway, that boardwalk is brilliant. It was a bit late in the day for Beardirs on the the grit trays but we had good views of Otter with two cubs from the causeway hide. A walk to the far hide only got a few Tufted Duck and another Great Egret but it is a lovely walk. I reckon that hide must be for replacement soon.

Glad you made it to "the Moss" Pete and always good to hear of accommodation available in the area;   we used to rent a cottage opposite the railway station at Silverdale but owner sold and one of the two houses is now a rental at twice the price !   so we opted for Travelodge instead which is only ten minute drive to reserve,      If it was last weekend you visited, I wonder if the Lilians hide was busy because there is a female Garganey there at the moment;   we saw her today but really hard to ID amongst the teal.    I didn't take the camera out today as the weather was set for drizzle all day and it was pretty gloomy much of the time but tomorrow morning before we head home we may take another look around the reserve and see if the Garganey is visible and not sleeping and tucking her head back under her wing.  !!      Despite the weather we still saw Great Egrets, Bittern in flight twice, female Marsh Harrier, Red deer doe and a few Snipe so it was still a good day.    

@ Mike,  Must have been a very memorable moment to see Concorde on her final flight from Birmingham;   we used to go to Heathrow and watch Concorde take off in the late 70's and as it revved up its engines we could feel our little MGB-GT feel the "earthquake" as Concorde started to hurtle down the runway at full speed. !!    I was fortunate enough to get a free flight on it in 1993 from Warsaw to London which was not a scheduled service but Concorde was visiting Warsaw on a promotional visit and I was due for leave back in UK with business class airfare which covered the cost of this special flight;   Although it was a quick flight to LHR the captain told us he would go out into the North Sea near Denmark and go supersonic for us !!  I was on the plane for two and half hours and it was one of those special days that I will never forget.   I checked in first for the flight and was allocated "the Queen Mother's seat -  Row 1D "   lol

Another couple of pics from yesterday ...........

s our friends are only part time birders meeting them was more important than rarities, Both the lady and myself have been through similar medical problems and treatment recently so we bore our partners silly while we compare the latest developments lol The saltmarsh hides were pretty quiet and the low high tide meant the birds were almost out of scope range. The "maybe a Merlin" bird would only be a wild guess on my part going on the jizz.of a small distant dot. The Keepers Lodge is about 5 mins drive from the visitor centre and one we would use again although it is advertised for 4 people we reckon that would be a squeeze in the kitchen area. It is part of a 17th century farm complex with access to walk round their fields as well as local paths. I hope the weather picks up for you and keep the pics coming.

Lovely photos from your trip away Hazel, beautiful colours, a right mix of birdies and by the look of it, nice weather as well, thanks.

Wendy S said:

Keepers Lodge is about 5 mins drive from the visitor centre and one we would use again

Thanks Pete,  I've already checked out the accommodation online and it's an ideal position to visit Leighton Moss so another good option.     Weather is supposed to be better tomorrow with very little wind and some sunshine so the bearded tits will love it :)     hope to see the female garganey again but picking it out amongst 50 teal will be a challenge LOL.     

@ CL,   it's been a good few days for sightings so well worth the trip.    thanks again CL