Hello there
My partner, and I will be spending a weekend visiting RSPB Leighton Moss on the 5/6th December 2009. Never been to this area before so it is our first visit. I hope that I have the names of the areas correct here. We are staying at Ulverston, and I have been told it is a very nice area. Any interesting birds around at the moment - that we need to look out for - any prime patches to visit. Thank you in advance Regards Kathy and Dave
Hi Blackbird,
The whole of Morecambe Bay and its 2 estuaries (The Lune and The Kent) is good for all species of wintering and resident coastal birds, and in the woods I have never seen or heard so many chaffinches!
If you manage to get a little further south of Leighton Moss, to Glasson Dock (south of Morecambe), the River Lune estuary there currently has literally thousands of lapwings and some knots. The area is mostly sand, mud, salt and marsh flats, with lovely walks along the estuary.
On the northern side of the Lune Estuary is a place called Sunderland Point. This is well worth a visit, if only for the hamlet itself. (Beautiful and unique). It gets cut off by the tide twice a day, but only for about an hour at a time, so no disaster if you get stranded. We were there last week. Plenty of wading birds.
The coast near Leighton Moss (Silverdale area) is also worth a visit. Some National Trust coastline there.
If you like ducks and geese, there is no better place than the duck pond at Grange Over Sands. Every variety of duck you can imagine - so colourful and exotic, and a clan of barnacle geese.
I hope this helps, and hope you have a great time.
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
hi Sparrow
Thank you for your informative post.
I will take note of the places that have been mentioned, and I am looking forward to visiting the area.
It will mean an early start on Saturday morning, Dave estimated it will take us 4 hours travelling (from Bedford) at least .... so we do not want to run out of daylight on Saturday afternoon.
Will Google Earth the area too to get bearings a little better {thumbs up}
Regards
Kathy and Dave
Sparrow Hi Blackbird, The whole of Morecambe Bay and its 2 estuaries (The Lune and The Kent) is good for all species of wintering and resident coastal birds, and in the woods I have never seen or heard so many chaffinches! If you manage to get a little further south of Leighton Moss, to Glasson Dock (south of Morecambe), the River Lune estuary there currently has literally thousands of lapwings and some knots. The area is mostly sand, mud, salt and marsh flats, with lovely walks along the estuary. On the northern side of the Lune Estuary is a place called Sunderland Point. This is well worth a visit, if only for the hamlet itself. (Beautiful and unique). It gets cut off by the tide twice a day, but only for about an hour at a time, so no disaster if you get stranded. We were there last week. Plenty of wading birds. The coast near Leighton Moss (Silverdale area) is also worth a visit. Some National Trust coastline there. If you like ducks and geese, there is no better place than the duck pond at Grange Over Sands. Every variety of duck you can imagine - so colourful and exotic, and a clan of barnacle geese. I hope this helps, and hope you have a great time.
It is a great place Blackbird, I could spend a week there easy! Enjoy
For viewing or photography right place right time is everything. I'd rather be in the right place with poor kit than have the best kit and be in the wrong place.
Really nice area and the reserve restaurant is brill. Enjoy
Hi Kathy/Dave
You will have a great time there, Ulverston is nice and not too far from Leighton Moss, and is also ideal for the rest of the Lakes. Hopefully you will get to see the Bearded Tits, when I was there a couple of weeks ago they were showing, as you walk down the causeway there is a break in the reeds on the right, and a couple of grit trays on the reed edge, I only had to wait 10 minutes before a pair appeared - magic! Lots more to see, suggest you try the Lower Hide, as well as the birds, Otters have been seen quite frequently, and also Griesdale Hide, I got great views of the Red Deer. Have a great time, can't wait to get back there myself.
regards
Gary
visit http://walksnwildlife.blogspot.com/
Hi Kathy and Dave,
I hope your trip is still on, with all the floods in Ulverston.
Enjoy!
Hi Sparrow
We will see as there is some time to go yet.
Time for things to settle down a little more over the next week or two.
Not all lost at the moment!
Thank you for your positive comments about my trip everyone {smile}
John: Thank you for your good wishes. and i will give the report of the days events for you to read back in this Forum.
Susan: I will enjoy no matter what the weather holds, and thank you for your good wishes.
Gary: I really look forward to seeing the Bearded Tits, and we would love to get a picture or two of them - close up and personal any day. I have made further enquires about the are problems due to the flood so we will see what is what
hi there
Just found out from Dave that we are going on Friday 4th December in the afternoon so we have 2 days birding to look forward to
Cannot wait now!
Good for you! Look forward to hearing all about it (and seeing the pics of course!!) ;-)
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
Are you all set for your weekend? You must be getting excited. I know I would be.
If time permits, try and get to Sunderland Point for an hour. It is a good vantage spot for the estuary birds, and a lovely and unique hamlet.
I forgot - here is a link for Sunderland Point
http://www.birdtours.co.uk/sunderland/
Hi there
Well back once more, and I will type report tomorrow.
Had a fabulous time, and took a load of pictures
Weather was a bit on the damp side, but luckily the rain was at its worst overnight Friday and Saturday.
12.00 Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE X-NONE Report about Leighton Moss, Silverdale. Near Carnforth, Lancashire
Friday 4th December 2009
We left Bedford Friday mid-day, and set off on our journey to Ulverston. The weather was sunny, along with a feeling of clean open countryside. It gave a lot of positive vibes for the weekend coming up. The sun was shimmering, and it was bright and cheerful. The roads where quite busy. We came across one or two lots of road works, but the journey was not too bad. We passed the large Rookery on the A421. We made our way past Marston Vale and on our way to our destination. It would be a 4 hour trip in all and no doubt well worth it.
As we made our way along major motorways, I watched out for any interesting birds flying about. There was not too much activity. A lot of Crows, Rooks and Wood Pigeons flew about in all directions. Some smaller birds sat lined in a row on the utility wires here and there. Not easy to see what species they are while on the move.
A Kestrel was busy hunting at the side of the M6 Motorway. I looked up at the flying BoP as we drove past. I was hoping that the bird would dive, but it stayed motionless in the air for a good few minutes. I could see the outline of the bird getting smaller and smaller as we drove on along the road, and away from the hunting bird.
It was dark by the time we made our way through Ulvertston and to our hotel. So at 5pm we arrived at our destination, and made our way to the Stan Laurel Hotel. We parked in the back car park, and booked ourselves into the hotel. Our room name is the ‘Laughing Gravy’ – one of Laurel and Hardy’s named films. We dropped off our cases and made our way into Ulverston town centre. We wanted to get a new OS map of the area so we could make our way around. We did not manage to get what we wanted so we decided to wait until the Tourist Information opened on Saturday morning instead.
We went to one of the local public houses. The Farmers Arms looked good, and we decided to eat there. OH loves the local ale, so he enjoyed a couple of pints. We ordered our food and relaxed for the rest of the evening. We went to bed at a sensible hour.