Restharrow Scrape.

After popping in to see the Dartford Warbler at the "Sandpit" and a nice little party of Tree Sparrows (not photographed) I popped into the hide at the Scrape and took a few easy piccies.

Female Teal

 

Drake Teal

Pairof Shovelers

Drake Shoveler

Coot

Drake Pochard

Drake Pochard - an infrequent visitor to the scrape.

Cormorant

Cormorant and Moorhen.

Tufted Ducks

Drake Tufted Duck.

a few Gadwall grazing.

Three Wigeon grazing.

It's a Hard Life

It's a hard Job being Jack's transport manager this week. Today I was forced to spend the day at Leighton Moss RSPB Reserve while Jack gained a little more insight into the world of RSPB work.

I must admit that Leighton Moss is one of my favourite reserves, one that I first visited around 38 years ago, Boy it has certainly changed since then,

 There are seven hides on the reserve and it's annex down the road, adjacent to Morecambe Bay and I started at the Causeway Hide. It used to be called the Public Hide,because it is on a public footpath and is open to all. However since it got an upgrade and is now an out standing modern viewing point it also acquired a new name. I feel a bit at home here because you look out to an island, in a lake with Lapwings on it. (Like a much bigger version of the Restharrow scrape).

 And to add to the comparison there was a pair of Oystercatchers along side.

 When I arrived there was quite a large group of Tufted Ducks and they were escorted by several Coots. I think there was some sort of feeding synergy going on.

 There were a few Great Crested Grebes at the back, but just this one ventured close enough for a picture.

 Leighton Moss was one of the first reserves to have an established Marsh Harrier population, before the boom in their numbers and it is still one of the highlights. On my first visit, all those years ago we also saw one of the other specialities, a Bittern. They are still around, but not easy to see and today I didn't hear a BOOM.

 A few more Lapwings and Black-headed Gulls.

 No wild Geese here but a pair of Greylag Geese.

 Not very many Galdwall around but a few scattered over the reserve.

 Drake Mallards were looking particularly smart and were already stalking the ducks!

 Another March Harrier over the trees. I saw at least four, two males, and adult female and a juvenile.

 Always good to see a Duck Gadwall, such a nice looking and  sweet duck.

One of just a few Cormorants sitting around.

Lower hide was the place to go, I was told, for the best chance  of an Otter sighting, but no luck today. I did hear a Water Rail and a couple of Cettis Warblers, with the briefest glimpse of the latter, on the way down to the hide.

 A Moorhen in front of the Hide.

 Back at the Causeway Hide and Carrion Crow serenaded me noisily.

The once rare but now unexceptional Little Egret, a few were around the reserve.

A few Redshank sat on a ridge in front of the Tim Jackson Hide along with some Teal and a couple of Wigeon.

A whirring of wings and around 300 Redshanks invaded the ridge.

Some of the 80 or so Black-tailed Godwits that dropped in  the water in front of the Grisedale Hide.

A drake Pintail from the Tim Jackson Hide

A late return to Lillian's Hide to see the reported Goldeneye Drake. 

Two Pochards at the back seen from Lillians Hide. The reed beds are fantastic and somewhere there are some Bearded Tits, still around although the high water levels has made the winter difficult for them. I didn't see or hear any today.

View from Lillians Hide


Four views of the Reserve from the new Tower

What's at the end of the Rainbow?

Driving along the Ancient Highway a sudden heavy shower produced a fantastic Rainbow.  I really needed to have had a 20mm lens with me to take in the whole panorama, but here are the two ends of the rainbow.

If you've ever wondered if there's a pot of gold at the end of the Rainbow, or if not5 what is there I will  tell you what I found today. The left hand end came to ground somewhere near to the Restharrow Hide, so that one was possible to research.

The right hand end was dropping into the sea, beyond the seawall, and lacking a wetsuit I decided to leave that end a fishy mystery.

I already knew that the field next to the Restharrow Scrape had a small flock of white-fronted Geese grazing early in the morning, so I was on my way to see id they were still there.

By the time I arrived the Rainbow had departed by the geese were still there, but very distant. Fortunately the light was by now very good and the views through a telescope weren't too bad. There were around 18 birds, but there was no way of getting closer and therefore the photos remain a record of distant dots.

 There were a lot of Teal on the scrape, where the water level was as high as I've seen it. But it was a group of Gadwall and Tufted Ducks that caught my eye.

 There were four Tufted Ducks, a pair and two females together. They were very active and diving frequently.

 There were around eight Gadwall with them, and they stuck pretty close by the Tufted Ducks each time that they dived.

I've often seen Gadwall behaving this way, normally with Coot. They wait around for the diving bird to surface and bring up pieces of food that they can snaffle. I suppose that this is a form of kleptoparasitism, although it is a passive type, unlike Skuas harrying Terns.