The journey from Leeds to Leighton Moss began at 6.45am on a very cold but clear morning. It was minus 2 degrees according to the thermometer in the car when I set off, but it dropped to -4 as I was driving past Ingleton. Not many birds seen on the journey until I got to Arkholme when I saw a very large mixed flock of starlings, jackdaws and crows feeding in a field.
I reached the car park at Leighton Moss just about 8.30 and for the first time in ages I was able to park behind the reserve centre rather than in the overflow car park. The temperature was still below freezing at this time, so I made sure I had gloves and hat on before I set off to the feeding station. At the station there were about a dozen pheasants and the same number of mallards hovering up the spilt stuff under the feeders, upon which I very quickly totted up great, blue and marsh tits along with chaffinches, a couple of robins and a song thrush which landed on the feeding tray for a second or two before flying off, not to be seen again.
The cold meant that I didn’t hang around but forged on to Lilian hide, which was like a fridge! The large windows where covered in condensation and you couldn’t see a blessed thing out them, as were the glazed window flaps. Opening the flaps was a mistake as the slight breeze was like an arctic blast, the view was of a handful of teal, mallard and gadwalls close in, more distant views being hampered by the early morning sun shining directly into your face. I could hear geese but couldn’t see them.
Very quickly the lack of warmth meant that I needed to move on, so out the hide and along the path towards the Causeway and Public hide.
I managed to add mute swan, reed bunting and blackbird to the day list from the path, the swans being in flight across the reedbed and the crisp morning air allowing me to hear the woosh of their wings. From the Causeway I heard water rail and wren but not the Cetti’s warbler I was hoping for. Public hide was no warmer than Lilian and it too had misted up glass so once again I had to open the flap and get the cold breeze in my face. It’s amazing how you don’t feel the slight breeze when you are moving about but the minute you stop it’s like a knife through you. A solitary great black-backed gull along with a couple of cormorants were all that greeted me on my first scan of the water, as I got my eye in I picked out a distant female goldeneye, more teal and a few Pochard, more mute swans and a flotilla of greylag geese cruised out from behind an island. I was going to set up the scope but the cold was such that I didn’t really want to remain stationary for too long, so pressing on I continued on my way to Lower hide.
At Lower hide I found a large flock of black-headed gulls with at least half dozen common gulls mixed in with them. More swans and also tufted duck and hundreds of coot made up the rest of the birds seen from this hide. I decided to retrace my path and visit the 2 hides on the other side of the reserve centre. I’d been struck on the way from the car park how few small birds were around, however on the way back I started to find them, flocks of long-tailed tit, a solitary dunnock and more marsh tit were seen before I reached the Causeway again. I did hear the soft wheeze of a bullfinch but couldn’t locate the bird, on the walk to Tim Jackson hide I was accompanied by several great tits, blue tits and long-tailed tits, obviously a feeding flock but they didn’t have any interesting birds with them.
Tim Jackson hide was a disappointment, the sun was now quite bright and at just the right height to make it painful trying to look out of the hide, I heard mallard and wigeon but didn’t even attempt to eyeball them. I left the hide within seconds of entering and made my way to Grizedale hide, where the sun wasn’t quite so bad. Here I found a large flock of greylag geese with one or two Canada geese muddled in with them, a common buzzard flying over the wood attracted my attention for the most unbuzzard-like flight action. There were no thermals for it to exploit and its laboured flapping trying to gain height was something I’d never seen before. I’m used to them giving a couple of flaps and then gliding majestically, still the bird managed to gain the required height and it then soared away dropping behind the hill in the distance.
By now the cold had got to my bones and I decided to head for the café and a hot drink, disturbing something in the water by the path as there was a definite splash as I walked along. A sparrowhawk shooting through the bushes close to the car park was a welcome addition to the list.
I reached the car park at Leighton Moss just about 8.30 and for the first time in ages I was able to park behind the reserve centre rather than in the overflow car park. The temperature was still below freezing at this time, so I made sure I had gloves and hat on before I set off to the feeding station. At the station there were about a dozen pheasants and the same number of mallards hovering up the spilt stuff under the feeders, upon which I very quickly totted up great, blue and marsh tits along with chaffinches, a couple of robins and a song thrush which landed on the feeding tray for a second or two before flying off, not to be seen again.
The cold meant that I didn’t hang around but forged on to Lilian hide, which was like a fridge! The large windows where covered in condensation and you couldn’t see a blessed thing out them, as were the glazed window flaps. Opening the flaps was a mistake as the slight breeze was like an arctic blast, the view was of a handful of teal, mallard and gadwalls close in, more distant views being hampered by the early morning sun shining directly into your face. I could hear geese but couldn’t see them.
Very quickly the lack of warmth meant that I needed to move on, so out the hide and along the path towards the Causeway and Public hide.
I managed to add mute swan, reed bunting and blackbird to the day list from the path, the swans being in flight across the reedbed and the crisp morning air allowing me to hear the woosh of their wings. From the Causeway I heard water rail and wren but not the Cetti’s warbler I was hoping for. Public hide was no warmer than Lilian and it too had misted up glass so once again I had to open the flap and get the cold breeze in my face. It’s amazing how you don’t feel the slight breeze when you are moving about but the minute you stop it’s like a knife through you. A solitary great black-backed gull along with a couple of cormorants were all that greeted me on my first scan of the water, as I got my eye in I picked out a distant female goldeneye, more teal and a few Pochard, more mute swans and a flotilla of greylag geese cruised out from behind an island. I was going to set up the scope but the cold was such that I didn’t really want to remain stationary for too long, so pressing on I continued on my way to Lower hide.
At Lower hide I found a large flock of black-headed gulls with at least half dozen common gulls mixed in with them. More swans and also tufted duck and hundreds of coot made up the rest of the birds seen from this hide. I decided to retrace my path and visit the 2 hides on the other side of the reserve centre. I’d been struck on the way from the car park how few small birds were around, however on the way back I started to find them, flocks of long-tailed tit, a solitary dunnock and more marsh tit were seen before I reached the Causeway again. I did hear the soft wheeze of a bullfinch but couldn’t locate the bird, on the walk to Tim Jackson hide I was accompanied by several great tits, blue tits and long-tailed tits, obviously a feeding flock but they didn’t have any interesting birds with them.
Tim Jackson hide was a disappointment, the sun was now quite bright and at just the right height to make it painful trying to look out of the hide, I heard mallard and wigeon but didn’t even attempt to eyeball them. I left the hide within seconds of entering and made my way to Grizedale hide, where the sun wasn’t quite so bad. Here I found a large flock of greylag geese with one or two Canada geese muddled in with them, a common buzzard flying over the wood attracted my attention for the most unbuzzard-like flight action. There were no thermals for it to exploit and its laboured flapping trying to gain height was something I’d never seen before. I’m used to them giving a couple of flaps and then gliding majestically, still the bird managed to gain the required height and it then soared away dropping behind the hill in the distance.
By now the cold had got to my bones and I decided to head for the café and a hot drink, disturbing something in the water by the path as there was a definite splash as I walked along. A sparrowhawk shooting through the bushes close to the car park was a welcome addition to the list.
