I had a birthday last year! - 18 February 2013

First, I must make it clear that... I love Leighton Moss... I love RSPB reserves and before I get accused of being a male whatsit of some description... I love women too. However, the ageing lady (I'm not ageist either) that I, my wife, my friends and my fellow birders had to endure today, was an extreme example of what you can occasionally come up against when out for a quiet days birding at popular nature reserves.

To cut a long story short... we had enjoyed a great day at Leighton Moss (RSPB) with friends Amy and Chris. We saw lots of birds, with a great view of a Marsh Harrier and I saw my first Green Woodpecker for nearly 2 years. We had a great lunch (nice tuna balls Ames - pity about the carrot cake icing Chris), met some lovely people along the way and decided to end the day with an hour in the Eric Morecambe Hide. And that's where it went pear-shaped!

I just had time to find 3 Spotted Redshank for everyone before it happened... the arrival of Mrs Megaphone and her - surely by now deaf - accomplices! Showing absolutely no interest in the birds and sitting with her back to the water, off she went at maximum decibels...

"I COULD MURDER A CUPPA..."
"DO YOU KNOW WHO I SAW LAST WEEK..."
"BEST VICTORIA SPONGE I EVER HAD..."
"I HAD A BIRTHDAY LAST YEAR..."
"KNIT ONE PEARL ONE..."
"MARKS & SPENCERS, 3 FOR A POUND..."
"WHY IS EVERYONE LEAVING?"

And leave we did, in droves. It is not the first time that we have encountered this problem and I'm sure it will not be the last. But it was, I assure you, the most extreme example imaginable. Do these ignorant people not wonder why the rest of us speak so quietly, do they not ask themselves why hides empty shortly after they arrive?

The Eric Morecambe Hide was recently built and is brilliant. It is a short drive from the main reserve and is where a lot of visitors choose to end their day. Today it ended rather abruptly.
Well done Mrs Megaphone, you emptied it single handedly!

Some highlights...

Moss Bros Pintails - synchronised diving or drowning out the noise?

Grey Heron - wondering where the noise is coming from!

Mynah Heron

Marshside - 17 March 2012

A Saturday visit to Marshside with PK (she's nuts!) started with a clockwise circuit of Marshside 2 and Crossens Inner Marsh. Walking NE along Marine Drive our first sighting was nesting Mute Swans fairly close to the coastal road on the inner marsh. We saw a few Mallard, two Grey Heron, plenty of Wigeon, and turning onto the footpath at the top end, even more Wigeon.

The channels near to the water treatment works produced a dozen Black-tailed Godwits with Summer plumage beginning to show. Further along the channel was a Little Egret feeding in the water and PK spotted a Pied Wagtail feeding in a muddy bank. Before reaching Marshside Road, we received a severe ear-bashing from twenty Greylag all bellowing loudly, and watched a pair of Collared Dove checking out a garden conifer for a potential nest site.

Back at the Sandgrounders Hide for lunch, we saw Teal, Moorhen, Coot, Shelduck, Avocet, Redshank, Black-headed Gulls (more ear-bashing), Canada Geese, a couple of Oystercatchers and a few Lapwing. There was a Mediterranean Gull out there but we never found it. We finished off with a walk down to Nel's Hide where our reward was 150+ Black-tailed Godwit and a few pairs of Pintail feeding in front of us.

A good walk, lots of great birds, met some nice people and it didn't rain. PK even managed to stay awake on the drive home!

 Black-tailed Godwit developing its Summer colours

Little Egret feeding in the far channel

 Black-headed Gulls putting in an early performance for visitors at Sandgrounders Hide!

Classic view of a feeding Pintail from Nel's Hide