I thought I would write a final ‘recent sightings’ blog for 2011. Although the weather has not been brilliant, we have had some super sightings at the end of this year. The glossy ibis has been in the area for a few weeks now, most recently seen in the fields near the railway level crossing. It’s the first time it has been reported at Leighton Moss, bringing the total species count for the reserve to 276.
The otters have made daily appearances over the Christmas period, typically seen from Lillian’s Hide, Lower Hide and Public Hide. They have been seen throughout the day, but most frequently around lunchtime. The picture with this blog is our Flickr picture of the month, a fantastic shot of an otter on the reserve taken by Phil Boardman.
The great white egret is still on the reserve, usually seen feeding at Griesdale Hide or the Morecambe Bay hides along with several little egrets. Also down at the Bay today were several pink footed geese, a marsh harrier, pintails, redshank and spotted redshank.
The bitterns have not been seen a great deal recently, last seen at Public Hide on Friday. But there is plenty more wildlife to see on the reserve in the last few days, kingfishers have been spotted at Public Hide and Allen Hide in the last few days, a female sparrowhawk at Griesdale Hide, marsh harriers from Lillians and Eric Morecambe, red breasted mergansers at Jenny Brown’s Point, a female smew at Lower Hide and snow bunting seen on the slag heaps.
If you need any help to work of your Christmas indulgences, we run a Health Walk every Monday morning 11am-12pm, it's a brisk walk on the reserve, aimed at getting your heart rate up, without too much excersion, and a great opportunity to meet other people, as well as experiencing the beautiful surroundings of Leighton Moss. All this and it's free! So come along, we look forward to seeing you.