A trip to Leighton Moss

Last week I managed to get half term off and so on the Monday, having extracted the children from their beds with a crowbar, we set off to Leighton Moss. This for those who do not know is the RSPB reserverve on Morecombe Bay - near Carnforth.  It was one of those Autumn days usually so rare (except for this year) of warmth and light.  The air was still and clear when we visted the hides on the edge of the bay as you can see from the above photo of a lapwing and redshanks, it was bright and the peace of the place crept over you.

Later we visted other parts of the reserve not seeing any great rarities, though I heard my first Cettis warbler, but we got to see birds living their lives, ignoring us humans.  Swans disputing who owned the mere, shovelor and wigeon resting, getting cleaned up.

As evening fell we found a tree of roosting egrets in the gathering gloom.  As I took the picture, my wife noticed the parties of starlings flying past us,  fifty in one, a hundred in another, more in the big flock across the valley - all flying to the other end of the reserve (of course the other end) but we could see against the western sky the thousands of tiny dots wheeling and banking, celebrating their mastery of the air - we watched a while and then came away, a good way for a nice day to end.