Week ending: 29th September: Musselburgh and Port Seton 

This week we headed for one of our favourite sites, Musselburgh, and yes, you read that correctly, I'm delighted to confirm that John was able to join me, with trusty binoculars in hand. There was no rain predicted but the sky was to be overcast with cloud and it was to be fairly cold for the time of year. 

When we parked on Goose Green Place which runs adjacent to the mouth of the River Esk, the tide was fairly low but rising. Below is the gloomy view over the river looking toward Portobello and Arthur’s Seat. 

There was a perky group of Mute Swans on the near bank and a very large flock of Greylags on the opposite bank near the mouth of the estuary. One of the swans decided to fly upstream as we set off on a circuit that would take us along the sea wall for a half mile and then back via the recently-created Musselburgh Lagoons. We passed a Carrion Crow that was surveying the estuary before launching forth in its search for food. 

Mute Swan...
Greylag Goose	Carrion Crow

There weren’t any birds close to the sea wall but John jumped into action with his bins to direct me to a flock of around 50 Wigeon  that were floating over 300m from the shore. My Coolpix camera at high magnification (83X, equivalent to around 2000mm lens) confirmed they were indeed Wigeon.

John also picked up some Eider in the same area. Next, six Goosanders flew high over the river, heading upstream. Just before we reached the entrance to the lagoons, John spotted a trio of Great Crested Grebes that were about 200m out, diving for fish. 

Wigeon	Eider
Goosander	Great Crested Grebe

After photographing the grebes I noticed a female (note the ovipositor on its rear end) Black Slip Wasp, Pimpla rufipes, beside me on top of the sea wall. I managed a quick shot before it took off. We then took the path that lead us into the Musselburgh Lagoons. Immediately John spotted a male Stonechat moving between tops of tall vegetation. He also pointed out a male winter plumage Reed Bunting perched fairly near to the path. Just before the first hide I snapped a lovely Red Poppy at the edge of the path. 

Pimpla Rufipes	Stonechat
Reed Bunting	Red Poppy

The first hide we came to is west-facing, as the panorama below shows, with a fine backdrop of the famous Arthur’s Seat. We were disappointed at the lack of birds, but the fun came later.

A pair of Mallards appeared in the moat in front of the hide but we decided to check out the view from the next hide, which is north-facing. We were pleased when we saw that there were Oystercatchers gathered on the south side slopes of the scrapes. John then noticed a half dozen or so Curlew amongst reeds on the mound in front of the hide and I wondered if there were any more birds at the other side of the mound, so I climbed onto the concrete “window shelf” of the hide and was delighted to find more snoozing Curlews, but also flocks of Knot  and Bar tailed Godwits. As I was photographing them I heard the familiar sound of incoming geese - Greylags.

Mallard	Oystercatcher
Curlew	Knot
Bar-tailed Godwit	Greylag Goose

The Greylags flew in from the Firth of Forth - possibly they were the birds we saw earlier on the estuary.

Over the next quarter of an hour, wave after wave of Greylags flew in until there must have been close to 100 on the scrapes. A Mute Swan was next to make its entrance, and then a small flock of Teal appeared. Meanwhile, John was scanning across the now bird-populated scene with his trusty bins. He discovered a very active Pied Wagtail along the mound in front of the hide, and also a lone Canada Goose.

Greylag Goose...
Mute Swan	Female Teal
Female Pied Wagtail	Canada Goose

After the lagoons we relocated a half-mile to the east, to the Levenhall Links Nature Reserve, otherwise known as “The Scrapes”. To the right of the middle hide there were two Roe Deer grazing, probably a doe and her fawn. However, we were surprised at the lack of birds on the scrapes, so we moved to the left-most hide and from there we observed Redshanks, Oystercatchers and Teal, amongst which were a few foraging Dunlin. Despite this, we left the scrapes rather disappointed at the dearth of birds. At the car, which was parked by the side of the boating pond, John directed me to a couple of birds, namely a young Moorhen and a Woodpigeon having a wee drink of pondwater.

Roe Deer	Redshank
Teal / Oystercatcher	Dunlin
Juvenile Moorhen	Wood Pigeon

Final stop of the day was a couple of miles to the east, near the Wrecked Craigs at Port Seton. The tide was approaching its maximum, and birds that had been resting on the exposed rocks would be encouraged closer to the shore as the tidewater rises to flood the rocks. On arrival we could hear that there was a significant population of birds on the rocks. However I started with a shot of a female Pied Wagtail on the shore right below where I was standing. We were gobsmacked when we scanned the rocks and realised there was a huge number of Golden Plovers  only about 30 m from the promenade. A bit further back and to the right, by the water were families of noisy Sandwich Terns. There were also roosting Curlew amongst the terns. Parent terns were making repeated visits to the surrounding waters to catch small fish which they then delivered to the young on the rocks.

Female Pied Wagtail	Golden Plover....
	Curlew / Sandwich Tern...

There were Shags and Cormorants standing on the most distant rocks drying their wings. John rounded off a fine day of spotting when he discovered a Redshank and then a Bar-tailed Godwit that were on the beach to the east of the promenade. 

Shag	Cormorant
Redshank	Bar-tailed Godwit

The visit had started quietly but as the day progressed we accumulated a respectable 31 species. My favourites were the Golden Plovers and Sandwich Terns and it was great to see the Roe Deer. I also enjoyed the company of my companion John who ventured out after his period of recuperation. Hopefully his recovery will continue and he will manage out next week - weather permitting.

Week ending: 22nd September: Troon and Pow Burn 

This week I returned to the Ayrshire coast, south of where I visited last week, to Troon and Pow Burn (last visited February ’23). John was still recovering at home. The weather across most of Central Scotland was once again to be dry but very cloudy - except on the west coast - so I set off full of optimism that I’d see some sunny spells. 

When I arrived at the harbour car park in Troon the Sun was breaking through low cloud. The tide was rising and there were Herring Gulls standing on exposed rocks just offshore.

I was delighted to see a Grey Seal (identified) by its “parallel” rather than “V-shaped” nostrils) sticking his head out of the water, just beyond the gulls. I set off right to the small sandy, rocky shore below the tall harbour wall. I passed a large patch of flowering cranesbills, most likely Druce’s Cranesbill, a hybrid of French and Pencilled Cranesbills. I captured a nice shot of a hoverfly, Syrphus Ribesii, feeding on one flower.

Grey Seal	Starling
Druce's Cranesbill	Syrphus Ribesii

 I was shocked to see a 42ft boat grounded on the rock near the harbour entrance. It had a large gash on one side.

As I peered at the unusual spectacle, a flock of small waders  flew by and settled near to the wreck. My first impression was that they were Ringed Plovers.

With great care not to disturb the birds I moved as close as I could dare and started snapping. An Oystercatcher was checking out the Ringed Plovers as some Dunlins joined in the flock, as well as the odd Turnstone.

Oystercatcher	Dunlin ( in the middle )
Ringed Plover	Dunlin
Ringed Plover / Oystercatcher / Dunlin	Turnstone / Dunlin

A large Arran ferry, the Alfred, chugged past into the harbour, at one point loudly blasting its horn. The birds didn’t flinch. They were probably more used to it than I was. However, the birds were put up by a bloke who stomped right up to the wreck to get a really close look at it.

I moved off the shore and scanned the rocks from the path. I noticed there was now a group of around a dozen Shags fishing from of a rocky islet.

The Shags were drying their plumages between dives. The Herring Gulls were still on their wee island but I noticed that a Great Black-backed Gull had joined them. A Rock Pipit tweeted onto the rocks just below where I was standing and there was a Cat standing by the harbour wall watching, but probably too experienced to think it could catch any of the birds it could see.

	Great Black-backed Gull
Rock Pipit

I relocated to the North Beach car park to view the bird activity there as the tide came in, and to investigate the foreshore trees and shrubbery for birds, flowers and insects and even rabbits. Mainly Oystercatchers and gulls were on and around the water. 

There was an anti-litter message on the beach access path. Common Ragwort plant were still in bloom, and insects were feeding on the flowers, such as a Red Admiral butterfly, some drone flies, probably Eristalis arbustorum, as well as hoverflies, mainly Sunflies. A little further along the path I disturbed a Rabbit but it scurried into the vegetation before I could photograph it. A Large White  butterfly landed on a tree branch next to an area dominated by seeding Rosebay Willowherbs.

	Red Admiral Butterfly
Hoverfly - Eristalis arbustorum	Hoverfly - Sunfly
Large White Butterfly	Rosebay Willowherb Fruit

I was finding that the rather tall, dense and aging areas of wild plant that lined the foreshore were packed with interest and that continued with the discovery of groups of red berries, the fruits of Bittersweet, a member of the Potato family. Also, a Small White  butterfly settled on yellow Sea Radish flowers. I left the path and walked back across the grass on the sunny side of the trees until I reached the car. There were Woodpigeons on the tall trees and Jackdaws foraging on the short grass. A Carrion Crow watched me reach the car from its perch high in some Sea Buckthorn bushes. I decided to conclude my time at Troon with a walk along the promenade at the top end of the South Beach. After parking the car at the Titchwell Road car park I began my walk. I noticed a park bench artistically decorated with a colourful daffodil pattern.

Bittersweet Fruit	Small White Butterfly
Wood Pigeon	Jackdaw
Carrion Crow

The tide was approaching its maximum but there were still a few rocky islets for small waders, such as the Turnstones below, to gather. 

Another line of exposed rocks was easily viewed from the prom. Pied Wagtails were the first birds I encountered there. I was pleased to see a group of about a dozen Turnstones with a few Dunlins gathered on another section of rock. A very mobile Rock Pipit also turned up but it was hard to photograph due it being backlit by the strong sunlight.

Pied Wagtail	Juvenile Pied Wagtail
Turstone / Dunlin	Dunlin
Turnstone	Rock Pipit

I decided to visit Pow Burn, just a few miles south of Troon, sandwiched between Prestwick Golf course to the south and Royal Troon golf course to the north. Pow Burn can be a very fruitful place to birdwatch since it is sheltered from the wind and rain by sand dunes near where it runs into the sea. I parked on the approach road to the Preswick Holiday Park and set off towards the burn. Near the entrance to the holiday park a Rook was crowing on top of a wooden fence. Near the bridge over the burn I heard a Robin singing. At the bridge I was disappointed to find it devoid of birds. I did though find a Carder Bee feeding on a Dandelion and some small but very pretty Sheep’s-bit.

Rook	Robin
Common Carder Bumblebee	Sheep's Bit

A line of Mallard flew in and landed in the burn. 

A pair of Mute Swans came into view but the fellow birder who had his scope pointing towards them was actually waiting for a Little Egret to emerge from a hidden channel at the far side of the burn. Sadly it didn’t show.

Near the mouth of the burn there was a large flock of snoozing Redshanks and beyond them a Grey Heron was standing hiding in the long grass. Even more encouraging was a sighting of a pair of Stonechats. On my way back to the car I came across Round-leaved Mint and some examples of a terrestrial form of Amphibious Bistort.

Redshank	Grey Heron
Male Stonechat	Female Stonechat
Round-leaved Mint	Amphibious Bistort

As I neared the car a Ryanair aeroplane came in to land at Prestwick Airport. It seemed to skim over the trees as it descended onto the runway.

I am very pleased with the trip - 35 species photographed in reasonable light. My favourites are the seal, small waders, the 3 butterfly species and the wee stonechat. We’re in for a lot of changeable weather so let’s hope there’s a sunny day at the right time next week.


Week ending: 15th September: Stevenston, Saltcoats & Irvine Harbour

The weather throughout Central Scotland was predicted to be warm and sunny for the next week (summer finally arrives), so I headed for an overdue visit to the north Ayrshire coast, to Stevenston, Saltcoats and Irvine Harbour. John was still recuperating at home so I would need to be extra vigilant lest I miss those tricky spots that John and his bins provides so well.

At Stevenston Point I was initially disappointed to find very few birds - only snoozing Oystercatchers and a partially hidden Dunlin. The tide was high and probably the birds were elsewhere resting until waters subsided. However, I set my camera zoom to maximum magnification to scan over to the sands south of the Point where I found young Herring Gulls. Amongst the long grass on the Point I came across Lady’s Bedstraw and Red Clover was still in bloom. A last look at the rocks on the north side of the peninsula yielded a nice view of some Ringed Plovers - before they were spooked by a roaming dog.

Oystercatcher	Dunlin
1st Cycle Herring Gull	Lady's Bedstraw
Red Clover	Ringed Plover

I also popped over to view the pond at the end of Moorpark Road, which is just before the Auchenharvie Golf Club. A Mute Swan family was dominating the attention and also some moulting Mallards.

Mute Swan	Juvenile Mute Swan...
	Drake Mallard

I hoped the tide at Saltcoats had lowered during the hour I’d spent at Auchenharvie as I positioned myself on the tower at the end of the harbour from which the view of Firth of Clyde and the Isle of Arran always impressed.

A young Cormorant surfaced briefly just below the tower. Overhead, a pair of young Herring Gulls hovered in the steady warm breeze as an adult Herring Gull looked on from its stance on top of the sea wall. Looking across the harbour with my camera on high magnification I noticed Oystercatchers, Turnstones and Ringed Plovers on exposed rocks. That encouraged me to walk around the harbour to see if there were any birds visible from the sea wall there.

Cormorant	1st Cycle Herring Gull
Ringed Plover	Oystercatcher

Below is the (unmagnified) view across the harbour (The Oystercatchers etc in the last picture are below the house with the solar panels).

As I walked around the harbour I spied a Curlew in the shallows near the car park. I followed that with shots of a Rock Pipit and male Pied Wagtail foraging on the pebble-covered edges of the harbour floor. A few Starlings landed on the harbour wall I was leaning on - almost posing for me. Just before I arrived at the area in which I saw the Oystercatchers from the tower, I photographed a Carrion Crow and Redshank that were probing the shallows.

Curlew	Rock pipit
Pied Wagtail	Starling
Carrion Crow	Redshank

There were some Oystercatchers on the quickly receding waters of the harbour edges. Turnstones too were gathered there as well as significant numbers of Starlings. A few Ringed Plovers joined the party - rapidly scurrying for short spells then standing still for a few moments - great when you’re trying to photograph them. I spotted that there were quite a few Pied Wagtails catching insects on the boulders of the breakwater and managed to snap a female and juvenile.

Oystercatcher	Turnstone
Starling	Ringed Plover
Female Pied Wagtail	Juvenile Pied Wagtail

I walked further along the promenade until I reached another viewing tower, very similar to the one at the harbour. It overlooks an old outdoor pool and often birds gather on the wall of the pool. A young Shag  was on one such wall fairly close to the base of the tower. There were also Herring Gulls such as the 3rd winter bird below. On my walk back to the car I photographed a trio of preening Redshanks and also a young crying Lesser Black-backed Gull finally succeeding in getting its mum to regurgitate a lump of food.

Juvenile Shag	3rd Cycle Herring Gull
Redshank	Lesser Black-backed Gull

I concluded my series of stops with a visit to Irvine Harbour. Below is a view of the River Irvine estuary looking out towards the Isle of Arran.

There were Rooks and Carrion Crows ever-watchful for discarded human food waste around the cars. I trained my camera on the floating platform midstream on the river Garnock where Grey Seals like to bask. Luckily there were four such seals at rest on the platform. The land to the right of the River Garnock is called Boghead, a famous place in the world of horse racing. There were Wigeon among the birds on the riverside. A Cormorant flew in from that area and landed in the water in front of where I was observing the seals. I next walked towards the estuary mouth, passing a column upon which a young Shag was sitting. Near the Pilots House there was a clump of Sea Mayweed blooming through a low path-side bush.

Rook	Grey Seal
Wigeon	Cormorant
Juvenile Shag	Sea Mayweed

The public toilets at the beach were locked so I decided to take a walk along the grassy dunes where I photographed a beautiful Sunfly feasting in the stamens of a lovely Beach Rose. Also, I snapped a dronefly, probably Eristalis arbustorum, on Sow Thistle. On my way back to the car I watched a Curlew foraging on the opposite side of the estuary where it caught and consumed a Crab. 3

Hoverfly - Sunfly	Hoverfly - Eristalis Arbustorum
Curlew...

This trip took a time to get going, most likely due to the high tide. As the tide level fell, birds started feeding and the number of sightings soared. My favourites were the several encounters with Cormorants, Shags and Curlews and the Sunfly was lovely. As I write, Scotland is experiencing lovely weather - which is expected to last across the weekend. I’m crossing my fingers.


Week ending: 8th September: Balloch

This week I found myself at Balloch, a very sunny town at the south end of bonny Loch Lomond. John was still confined to quarters, recovering. My circuit started at the Lomond Shores car park and took me along the west side of the River Leven to the bridge that took me across the river, then back along the east side of the river and into and around Balloch Castle Country Park  (which is part of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park). The view below shows the loch as viewed from the Lomond Shores complex:

There were plenty of Black-headed Gulls to be seen, such as those perched on the yellow paddle boats.

A juvenile Cormorant too flew in for a wee ride on the boats. It had flown from a group of cormorants that were perching on a line of old posts situated about 100m from the shore. Lesser Black-backed Gulls were also perched there, while on the shore there were more Black-headed Gulls scavenging.

Juvenile Cormorant...
Lesser Black-backed Gull	Black-headed Gull

The posts are probably the remains of an old quay, but are now perfect perching posts for cormorants and gulls.

I continued towards the river, passing the slipway queue of various types of water craft (which disturbingly included a pair of jet skis), where I heard a Robin warbling atop a fence post and also spotted a first winter Pied Wagtail on the roof of the slipway house. By that building there were flowers with insects in attendance, such as a Knapweed hosting White-tailed Bumblebee and Common Ragwort with a dronefly, probably Eristalis Arbustorum.

Robin	1st Cycle Pied Wagtail
White-tailed Bumblebee	Hoverfly - Eristalis Arbustorum

I eventually reached the Balloch Bridge which I crossed and then proceeded along riverside paths into the south end of the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. Below is the view looking up the river into the loch (which you can’t really see due to the number of boats docked on quays along the river).

There was a Grey Heron prowling on edge of the narrow island. It made a couple of unsuccessful dips of its long beak into the shallows as it attempted to catch something edible. After taking a few nice shots I noticed to my right a Tawny Grisette  mushroom standing proudly on the short grass. Near the fungus, a juvenile Carrion Crow was hunting for worms on the soggy grass. Just before the path enters the Balloch Castle Country Park there’s a slipway where birds tend to gather. I paused there for a short time to see what I could photograph. My first capture was a nippy Jackdaw.

Grey Heron	Tawny Grisette
Juvenile Carrion Crow	Jackdaw

Luckily a mum and daughter appeared with bread and soon the slipway started to fill with Mallards, which included ducklings and their parents. The drake, recognisable by his yellow beak, was still in eclipse plumage. Of course Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls were keen to get a share of the bread chunks.

Juvenile Mallard	Mallard in Eclipse Plumage
1st Cycle Herring Gull	Black-headed Gull

I sat on a riverside bench for a bit and noticed another juvenile Cormorant perched on a wrecked boat beside a Lesser Black-backed Gull. When I looked further up river I could see a family of Mute Swans paddling down-stream towards where I was sitting. A wee Moorhen swam out from under foliage and perched by the riverside.

Juvenile Cormorant	Lesse Black-backed Gull
Mute Swan	Moorhen

I next set off along the path into the country park and within a distance of about 100m I found several fungi. The first may be a developing patch of Hairy Curtain Crust. The next three fungi were examples of Hoof Fungi  in various stages of development.

Hairy Curtain Crust	Hoof Fungus...

A Chiffchaff was watching me snapping the hoof fungi so I was able to quickly turn my attentions to it. Below the Chiffchaff there was a Michaelmas Daisy plant in flower and further along the path I found some Devil’s Bit Scabious  flowers and also French Cranesbill.

Juvenile Chaffinch	Michaelmas Daisy
Devil's Bit Scabious	French Cranesbill

Balloch Castle lies to the east of the path and is set in beautiful, well-maintained parkland. Currently it is closed to the public.

I passed a watchful Carrion Crow by the lochside guarding what looked like the remains of a large fish which it was trying to eat. Off the other side of the path were a pair of Woodpigeons with rather different dietary preferences. It was at this point I came upon a flower we hadn’t seen before - a newbie: Yellow Jewelweed. It is native to North America and is a member of the Balsam family. Another name for the plant is “Touch-me-not”, probably because its seed pods “explode” in order to scatter its seeds.

Carrion Crow...
Wood Pigeon	Yellow Jewelweed

As I continued my way along the lochside path I noticed what I thought was a “raft” of weed at least 200m from the shore. I immediately trained my camera lens on it, set to its highest magnification. The picture below shows that it was in fact a very large collection of at least 120 (a “a dopping of”) Goosanders.

5 minutes later I had walked quickly further along the path and had a closer at them. My impression was that they were drifting closer.

However, remember I mentioned the two jet skiers that were waiting to get on the loch? Well they scooted right past the flock causing them to panic and flee (the yellow object in the shot is part of a canoeist’s paddle. He was paddling near the shore between me and the birds).

Eventually the path reached the north end of the country park and it veered east up the side of a rocky stream. The path was not tarred and in places it was a bit of a scramble to climb. However, I did see a fruiting Lesser Burdock bush and also a fallen tree that was absolutely covered in Turkeytail fungi. 

	Lesser Burdock
Turkeytail...

At the top of the slope the path was once again tarred and even. I found a dead, or at very least, a sick tree whose trunk was still standing and was home to some very beautiful Porcelain Fungi . I descended the slope shown in the above photo of the castle, and headed back along the path I’d walked earlier. Just before I left the park I photographed some Water Mint and I found Marmalade hoverflies feeding on Devil's Bit Scabious flowers - my final shot of the trip.

Porcelain Mushroom...
Water Mint	Marmalade Hoverfly

It was a very satisfying trip with some pleasing highlights, namely the distant dopping of Goosanders, the five species of fungi and newbie flower, Yellow Jewelweed. The weather was ideal. The weather prediction for next week is for colder, showery weather but one never knows, maybe we’ll have an Indian summer since we didn’t get a regular summer.


Week ending: 1st September : RSPB Leighton Moss ( Map)

As part of a weekend break I visited RSPB Leighton Moss (Web Site) in Lancashire to take advantage of warm and sunny weather. I last visited the site in March ‘22, a spring visit, so I anticipated that my sightings would be rather different in early autumn.

I started at the fine Grisdale hide ….

 …. where I was pleased to see a fair number of birds, including silhouetted Gadwall ducks, Mute Swans, ….. 

…. their cygnets, a Grey Heron and Mallards - all unfortunately photographed against the sunlight. However, I discovered a Red Deer almost completely hidden by the long grass. I also got a pleasing shot of a Common Darter  dragonfly sunning itself on the warm gravel path just outside the hide. There’s an area cleared of reeds that has a couple of bird tables, designed to attract Bearded Tits. Sadly they didn’t show.

Juvenile Mute Swan	Grey Heron
Red Deer	Common Darter

It was much the same shady story in the Tim Jackson hide where only a shot of a Coot and another Common Darter, a female, were worthwhile. Frustratingly, an area of bird feeders was also backlit with sunlight, but I got fair shots of Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Blue Tits and a young Robin.

Female Common Darter Dragonfly	Coot
Greenfinch	Chaffinch
Blue Tit	Juvenile Robin

 I next plodded on to the 2 most distant hides, the Causeway and Lower hides. I passed another Bearded Tit  viewing point - again birdless. At the Causeway hide, the light was coming from behind the hide, and there were plenty of birds, some gathered on an artificial rocky island: Mute Swans, Cormorants, Mallards, Gadwalls and Coots.

The Cormorants were fishing and then resting on the island, drying their wings. The Gadwalls there seemed very laid back contentedly preening. I photographed a lone immature Black-headed Gull posing on a pole near the island. Unusually, one drake Eider was in its more familiar plumage with other drakes still in their drab eclipse plumage.

Cormorant	Gadwall
Black-headed Gull	Mallard

Away from the island several Shoveler ducks were dabbling for aquatic invertebrates by upending and “dredging” soft mud from the pond floor using their sizeable beaks.

I photographed an elegant Mute Swan that paddled past in front of the hide, when a Common Hawker  dragonfly caught my eye when it hovered over the reeds and rushes below the hide windows. Luckily I saw it land on a reed. The big zoom on my Nikon Coolpix P950 helped enormously in getting a pleasing image. A few Gadwalls  were paddling in the area just in front of the island. 

Mute Swan	Common Hawker Dragonfly
Gadwall....

Some of them were pretty animated, probably young drakes quarrelling or courting the females.

The Lower hide is the most isolated of the hides at Leighton Moss and it was a fair hike from the Causeway hide. On the way I snapped a Common Fleabane  flower. On reaching the hide there were more Mallards, one drake again in fine plumage, to the left of the hide, an adult and a fawn Red Deer  were grazing.

Common Fleabane	Mallard
Female Red Deer	Juvenile Red Deer

On the water there were a few Mallards and lots of very feisty, but distant groups of battling Coots (not captured) but I did manage a record shot of a Great White Egret  at full 83x zoom magnification of my new camera. On the way back from the hide a Speckled Wood  butterfly crossed my path and settled on a leaf on low branches of a xxx tree. When I passed the Fleabane again it had a bee feeding on one of its flowers. Near the Causeway hide a group of Mute Sean’s had left the water and were waddling down the footpath. At the Causeway hide, a last look across the water, through a gap in the reeds, revealed a Grey Heron looking kind of lost.

Mallard In Eclipse Plummage	Gret White Egret
Speckled Wood Butterfly	Hoverfly - Syrphus Ribesii
Mute Swan	Grey Heron

Back at the garden at the rear of the visitor centre I photographed a Broken-belted Bumblebee on beautiful Verbena bonariensis flowers. I then left the main reserve and drove about half a mile to a pair of hides, the Allen Hide and Eric Morecambe hides  which are sited on a coastal saltmarsh. Unfortunately there was very noisy improvement work going on the area around the hides, but the hides were open and I was delighted to find a Little Egret  feeding in front of the Allen hide.

Broken Belted Bumblebee	Little Egret

Below is the view of the nearly bird-less view of the water to the right of the Eric Morecambe hide. The heavy machinery that was making all of the noise can just be seen in the distance near the middle of the grassy banks of the pond.

Just as I arrived there four Avocets  flew in and began feeding. Also half a dozen Redshanks were feeding to the front and right of the hide.

Juvenile Avocet	Redshank

To the left side, which is usually crowded with waders such as Godwits, had only a smattering of birds: several Pied Wagtails and Lapwings. On my way back to the car a Brimstone butterfly was feeding on a Sow Thistle. And that was my final shot of the trip. So despite the disruptions I came away with a nice set of sightings.

Pied Wagtail	Juvenile Pied Wagtail
Lapwing	Brimstone Butterfly

I was pleased with my haul of pictures but I wasn’t entirely satisfied with my time at Leighton Moss. The seven feet tall reeds that lined most of the paths blocked views of the waters, and with breeding over and many birds moulting or off-site to other areas, it was perhaps, as I overheard an elderly woman in one hide proclaim, “It’s not a good time of year to watch birds”. That said, I did enjoy seeing the Red Deer, dragonflies, Egrets, Avocets and Brimstone, and I look forward to returning there, in the spring maybe.

Highlights - September 2024

We present this month’s gallery of my favourite pictures I’ve taken during September 2024. They are not listed in the order they have been taken, but according to a series of themes. I’ve kept commentary to a minimum, preferring to let each picture talk for itself.

WATER BIRDS

Barnacle Goose	Coot
Cormorant..
Juvenile Cormorant	Golden Plover
Juvenile Great Crested Grebe...

Cormorant

FUNGI

Birch Polypore	Common Inkcap
Common Stump Brittlestem	Grey Knight
Hairy Curtain Crust	Peeling Oysterling
Rosy Brittlegill	Shaggy Inkcap
Wood Pinkgill	Yellow Fieldcap

INVERTEBRATES

Bog Hoverfly	Common Darter Dragonfly
Common Froghopper	Green Veined White Butterfly...
	Large White Butterfly
Speckled Wood Butterfly...

MAMMALS

Roe Deer	Grey Squirrel

Common Seal...

Grey heron...
Little Grebe	Mallard Hybrid
Moorhen	Oystercatcher...
	Common Snipe
Ruff	Herring Gull

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