We've just spent a very pleasant week staying in a cottage at Challan Hall which backs onto Gait Barrows nature reserve.
Daily visiting the garden feeders - Marsh Tit x4, Nuthatch x2, Coal Tit c.12 plus Blue Tit, Great Tit, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Pheasant and a persistent if unsuccessful Sparrowhawk. On the last day a Treecreeper dropped in as well.
Most days 2-3 deer and several rabbits were in the garden or field behind the cottage. In the hedges/trees - Jay 6+, Mistle Thrush, Song Thrush, Fieldfare, Redwing, Chiffchaff, Great Spotted Woodpecker and a Green Woodpecker. Each evening 200-300 Starlings wheeled around over Haweswater.
A walk around Haweswater yielded several Water Rail, a female Goldeneye and a Cormorant. Lots of Nuthatch, Jay and Treecreeper in the woods.
Each day we spent a couple of hours at Leighton Moss the highlight being the Bearded Tits with a confirmed count of 30 (from the rings by Keith) on the grit trays on Tuesday. The same day we saw a flock of another 20 on the path to the Tim Allen hide many of which weren't ringed. Up to our leaving 101 have been ringed afresh this year just short of the 103 ringed last year. Apparently there were around 30 breeding pairs this year. The oldest bird we saw was a male now seven years old - about the max for this species. Whilst watching the Bearded Tits we saw our first Whooper Swans of the year when two passed over heading east.
Most days especially earlier in the week a pair of Cetti's Warbler were often seen and heard by the grit trays. None were seen on Thursday but one was back on Firday morning.
We dipped on the Marsh Harrier that was seen earlier in the week and on the Great White Egret but we did spot a Bittern from the Public Hide. Also present there were around a dozen Pintail a Goldeneye ad lots of Teal, Wigeon, Mallard etc. Actually we may have seen the Marsh Harrier perched in trees by the Lower Hide but it was too distant for certain to distinguish it from maybe a Buzzard instead. Several Sparrowhawks were viewd from Public Hide as well.
Elsewhere on the reserve we saw Treecreeper c.12, Siskin x3, Nutchatch, Bullfinch, Goldcrest c.20, Marsh Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Water Rail plus the usual ducks, tits and finches and a couple of deer.
We only made one visit to the Eric Morcambe Hide where the main birds of note where the c.500 Black-tailed Godwit roosting, Greenshank 7-8, and a Kingfisher were the most interest. Several Little Egret and a Peregrine were on the saltmarsh. As we headed back to the car a Raven passed over heading east.
