Herons and Egrets

This week's trip was a return to Leighton Moss to see what was about. The weather although pleasantly warm has a distinct autumnal feel and I am sure it won't be long before the gales and rain return. The birds were taking advantage of the conditions and either preparing for departure to warmer winter quarters or arriving from northern latitudes to spend the winter months in our part of the world. There were good numbers of redshanks,godwits and lapwings on the pools at the Allen and Morecambe hides . There were also around three dozen little egrets present and about four herons. Greenshank and snipe were also present and this variety of birds kept me busy throughout the afternoon trying to capture some of the action on camera.
I concentrated on the egrets and herons as they were present in good numbers and the egrets were busily feeding throughout my stay. These shallow brackish pools at Leighton Moss provide ideal feeding conditions for waders and wildfowl and are well populated through the winter months. The egrets are lovely birds  to watch as they elegantly wade around the pools constantly taking very small fish with dagger like plunges of their long bills. I hope the above images have captured this fishing action. The grey herons didn't catch any prey during my stay but did provide some nice opportunities for close up portrait and flight shots. All in all an excellent afternoon at Leighton Moss