Return Visit

For this week's visit I returned to Leighton Moss where Martin,Geoff and myself had a good day with the cameras last week.I started off at the Allen and Morecambe hides and was joined by Dave Cookson and Steve Dolan who had been at Leighton Moss since the early hours but had not seen much. It was indeed very quiet and Dave and Steve decided to move to Fleetwood for the remainder of the day.I stayed put but went onto the main part of the reserve to see what was about.

It was a beautiful sunny day and there were lots of visitors to the reserve. My first port of call was to the grit trays hoping for a sighting of the bearded tits but none showed whilst I was there.A very nice buzzard however showed above the causeway as it enjoyed the ideal flying conditions and I managed a few shots as it soared off into the blue.Next I spent time at the public hide and was again rewarded with some shots of a sparrowhawk soaring overhead.On next to the Lower Hide for a hoped for sighting of the otters which have recently been showing well but I was out of luck again. However on the way there I spotted a group of red deer feeding in a field on the edge of the reserve.My timing was spot on as a magnificent stag suddenly appeared and I was kept busy with the camera capturing the action of this family group of red deer.

Later I returned to the coastal hides and by late afternoon the light was perfect and there were more waders present than there had been in the morning.For the next hour or so I enjoyed these ideal conditions and managed some nice shots of greenshanks,lapwings and one or two snipe that were still around.The sun had almost set as I left and starlings and fieldfares were coming into roost. Close to the car park were a group of roe deer but I was not quick enough with the camera before they were frightened away by two passing trains. All in all a splendid day with good weather and some memorable sightings of red deer. Images of the buzzard,sparrowhawk,red deer and waders at the Eric Morecambe Hide are shown above.Hope you enjoy my account and images from a super day at Leighton Moss.