Leighton Moss nature reserve is situated on the border of Cumbria and Lancashire, near the town of Silverdale.
Leighton Moss is the largest reedbed in the Northwest of England, with five wonderful hides to choose from and the sky tower looking over the marsh, providing ample space for bird lovers and photographers alike.
Today the 19th of November 2022 I set off from home and made the quick 40-minute journey north to Leighton Moss car park, It is an RSPB reserve that offers free parking in their car park opposite the visitor center that provides you with tea coffee, and snacks along with an opportunity to purchase bird watching accessories books and clothing, making it sometimes hard not to take your wallet out and purchase yourself a little treat.
So this morning I set off to the first hide which was Causeway Hyde which overlooks a large area of water with an island in the middle, I was fortunate enough this morning to see the Otter out looking for its breakfast, however, it was quite far out and not an ideal subject to photograph but I did manage to capture a few seconds of it on video which you can find on my YouTube video below.
Along with the Otter, there were some Mallards, coots, Teals, Gadwall, and swans swimming around, a rather peaceful but pleasant hour sitting in the hide before I headed off down to the lower hide.
It was very quiet at the lower Hyde and not much happening so after an hour I made my way back up to the Causeway hide, on my way back I saw this lonely swan swimming down one of the inlets made for a lovely photograph and perfect composition.
On my way back from the lower Hide I just caught sight of a lovely, bearded tit which flew off before I had time to photograph it but was very nice nonetheless, there were also some Longtail tits, Tree creepers, Blackbirds along with the common Blue tits and Bullfinches.
From Lilian’s hide, I had a good view across the reedbeds, I could see the buzzards flying around on the opposite side with one quite comfortably perched on a pole again a little too far away to photograph but I did manage to get a little bit of video footage. The sky tower is a fabulous platform for views across Leighton Moss and all the way to Morecambe being this high up really does give you an advantage point and that perfect bird's eye view.
After a while I headed over to the Grisedale hide where I spent a couple of hours watching and photographing the wildlife, here I managed to photograph a Snipe wandering around the marsh, as well as Cinnamon teal/shoveler which has come back for its fourth winter at Leighton Moss.
As well as these two wonderful birds there were plenty of teals around making plenty of noise, a lovely white Egret flew over, but as chance would have it, I have a coffee in my hand at the time, you can always guarantee that something will happen when you're not ready.
It was now 1:00 PM and many of the birds are settled down for their afternoon nap the marches fell silent, so I headed my way back up to the visitor center where they had a feeding station, as luck would have it I just managed to get there as the heavens opened and we had a torrential downpour and the birds and animals made for the trees for cover apart from the ducks that didn't seem to care at all.
I spent a good 30 minutes here at the feeding station trying to capture the nuthatch, as it was flying to one of the feeding stations and back into the tree my aim was to photograph the nuthatch in the tree and not on the feeding station these birds sure are quick and trying to get one of those great shots that prove challenging but enjoyable, nonetheless.
soon it was time for me to head home after spending a wonderful day here at Leighton Moss, I would certainly recommend visiting this place to anyone and I will most definitely be back.
