This time of year sees lots of migrants both leaving and arriving at Leighton Moss so why not come and join us for a Wednesday walkabout and find out about the amazing travels of our birds at this time of year.
On yesterday's walk we spotted a couple of common terns divebombing into the pool in front of the Lilian's hide, probably stopping off here on their long journey south to Africa. The sand martins and swifts were also darting around hunting small insects over the water. It is extraordinary to think of the long journeys these birds will shortly be undertaking. Swallows have been known to cover 200 miles A DAY, with autumn migration taking them about six weeks. During their migration, swifts will be airbourne virtually the whole time, hunting, eating and sleeping on the wing. We also spotted some pochard and a few teal who come from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe to spend the winter here.
At the Public hide, we were treated to more aerial displays by a few common terns and were able to just make out a black tern hiding away at the back of the stony island. We also had a first for me: a kingfisher darted past several times. An osprey put in an appearance too, flying past and landing on a dead tree at the edge of Island Mere to devour a fish.
Elsewhere on the reserve, two otters were seen at the Lower hide at 11.25 am and there was another sighting later in the day at the Tim Jackson hide of an otter grooming and fishing. A stoat also surprised a visitor on the path near the ponddipping platform.