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| Little Egret on the hunt close to the Grisedale hide.
Hard to believe but I’m now the wrong side of 50! To celebrate we continued with a time-honoured, tradition of taking a couple of days off work with one of them being spent at the RSPB’s Leighton Moss Nature Reserve. Birdwise to be brutally honest it was quiet, however without the hordes of people typically found at weekends the atmosphere to be found whilst walking through the reedbeds was far easier to appreciate. I was hoping for a few photos of the Marsh Harriers, a Bearded Tit, perhaps a Cetti’s, a Water Rail, a Great White Egret or even one of several Otters, but no – despite them all being present I was either in the wrong place at the wrong time or more likely just too chilled out. |
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| Plenty of Nuthatches around with their distinctive call being heard throughout the woodlands around the edge of the reserve |
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| Auditioning for next year’s Christmas Card. | A resident or an over-wintering visitor? |
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| A Coal Tit enjoying some sunflower hearts. | Slightly more wary than the more common Tits. |
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| The increasingly rare Marsh Tit. Easily tempted down from the trees by an offering of sunflower hearts. |
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| Pintail. Seems a little bit early for nest building however this fine looking drake appeared to be showing off his building skills to a distinctly unimpressed female. |
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| Scarlet Elfcups. Widespread on dead Elder branches in the damper areas of the adjacent woodland. |