Leighton Moss

We’ve had a wonderful afternoon at Leighton Moss RSPB reserve near Silverdale.

The rain started during dinner last night and I think it rained all night. It was certainly raining heavily when I woke at 5.45am.

After breakfast it had stopped but the cloud was hanging heavily so our planned walk up Hampsfell for the views was put on hold. We decided instead to go to Arnside and took the long journey around the Kent Estuary to have a walk alongside the bay. The cloud had lifted considerably by then so we took a detour from the coastal path up to Arnside Knot. I’ve been before when we had a blippers day out to see Gladders photography exhibition at the Arnside Arts weekend some years ago, but Chris has never been. A three mile circular then back into town for a coffee just as the sun broke through.

Perfect timing as we then headed off towards Silverdale and the Leighton Moss RSPB reserve. It’s been a glorious afternoon in every respect. A nice man showed us what we might see and of course we didn’t see any of the rarer birds or the Otters but it didn’t matter, the whole experience was a delight.
Walking through the whispering reeds to the various hides was lovely. We experienced this at a nature reserve in Norfolk a couple of years ago but the reeds were brown in November. Today they had their lush purple seed heads atop the lush green leaves. In the extra you can see them in the background. This was taken from one of the hides just showing a selection of the birds. To the left amongst the ducks were some Redshanks. In another place we saw large numbers of Coots and in yet another, several Egrets.
Walking along the path there were lots of butterflies and Red Dragonflies to enjoy as well as the odd Robin, including a youngster.
We covered the whole site so I would say we walked at least another 3 miles. The reserve manages an area of Morecambe Bay, great for waders. It was a drive away so we left it for another time. We did make time for tea and cake before we left though.
Will definitely be going again, got to see those Otters!

It’s been a lovely ‘Away day/night’ and the weather was kind - not too hot and we didn't get wet.