Here's a 'Come Dine with the Birds' video made for Feed the Birds Day tomorrow.
We are holding a family event at Leighton Moss to make some gourmet treats for the birds.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/events/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-268740
Do come along!
Today's gorgeous weather brought some fantastic sightings at the reserve.
We had two separate bittern flights at the Lower hide at 9.30 am. An otter popped up at Island Mere at the same time and there was a sighting later (12.30 pm) from the Lower hide.
Two visitiors were absolutely thrilled to see 20 bearded tits at the grit trays and a Cetti's warbler was once again heard at the top of the Causeway. The marsh harriers have been displaying well.
There was also a great white egret along with several little egrets at the Tim Jackson hide. And over at the saltmarsh we had reports of a great sighting of a short eared owl at 12.30pm.
Don't forget it's Feed the Birds Day tomorrow so why not head over to rustle up some treats for our feathered friends?!
This will be my last blog from Leighton as I am moving onto my next placement with the RSPB. I've really enjoyed my time here. It's been fantastic to be out on the reserve and meeting all of you when you've come to visit. Thank you for all your encouragement and appreciation of the blog - I hope it's been as much fun reading it as it has been writing it!
This coming Saturday is the RSPB’s annual Feed the Birds Day, where we ask everyone to put out food and clean water for the birds to help them survive the cold winter months.
When the clocks go back this weekend and the temperatures start to fall, many garden birds will face starvation as there’s less natural food around for them to eat so they desperately need your help.
Here at Leighton Moss, we have a fantastic range of bird food and feeders in our shop and if you need any advice on what to buy why not pop in and we will happily answer any of your queries. Until 1 November you can still get £5 OFF the price off all 12.75 kg sacks of bird food (excluding Premium Peanuts) and until the 2 November you can still get 100g pouches of mealworms for £1.99 or 3 for a £5 so come along and stock up.
If you feed the birds already, then a big thank you from us and the birds. If you don’t, then please start. Buying off-the-shelf seed and other food is best, but if you can still help by feeding the birds leftovers from the kitchen such as rice, pasta, unsalted bacon rind, porridge oats, raisins and moistened bread.
The RSPB’s homepage (www.rspb.org.uk) now features a video explaining how to make your very own food to feed the birds.
This Saturday, Leighton Moss is hosting its very own Feed the Birds Day event where we will be showing how to make some tasty gourmet recipes for your feathered friends. Cost: £4 per child (RSPB Wildlife Explorer members £3). Booking and payment in advance essential by phoning 01524 701601. Recommended for children over the age of 5, who must be with an adult (adults free).
Goldfinch by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Gilly from BBC Radio Lancashire spent the afternoon (from 1 - 4pm with us at Leighton Moss and you can listen in again here:
Copy this and paste it into your webpage http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00kwxz0/John_Gillmore_26_10_2011
(ff to 17 minutes and 40 seconds) Hope you enjoy it!
A great white egret and 80 little egrets were down at the Lower hide early this morning.
We had two sightings of a water rail today, one at the Lower hide at 7.45 am and then another from the Public hide at 8.30 am, which was nice for the visitors that got a glimpse as they are usually very shy birds. There was also another bittern sighting, with the bird seen flying at the side of the Causeway at 9.15 am.
The otters didn't disappoint either. A large adult was spotted briefly at 8.30 am and a young one was demonstrating its fishing skills a little later at 9 am at the Public hide. Public hide also gave some good views of a marsh harrier, and a female and a juvenile were seen this afternoon at the Lilian's hide.
Over at the Eric Morecambe pools we had very high numbers of snipe - up to 32 - and 14 little egrets were counted down here too.