Monday 21st
March light NW sunny intervals, cool 2C to 8C
I open the
tent flap to find a cloudy day and quite cool. Packed I am off
towards Haweswater. The views along the bridleway to Rosgill and the
stone-walled country lane downhill to Brampton are superb. I can see
Haweswater from this elevated position and to the south the valley
where I failed to find ring ouzel last year. The golden eagle ridge
is just peeking above more nearby hills.
It is all
so lovely with snow still on the tops in the distance.
I get to
the RSPB offices at Naddle Farm.
I leave
and head for Leighton Moss. The less said the better.
Up and
over Shap, the highest A road in England and boy does it feel it, and
down to Kendal where I find a hotel to collapse in for the afternoon
and evening, The County Hotel. Brilliant, it has a deep bath in the
ensuite.
So the
year list is still on 189, which is twenty five ahead of this time
last year. Migrants will be here soon. Yippee!
27.38
Miles 1751 feet elevation up 2479 feet elevation down
Tuesday 22nd
March light W sunny intervals, cool 2C to 8C
To
Leighton Moss RSPB reserve involves a shortish cycle along the A6
south from Kendall.
It all seems to be downhill and a smooth ride
gets me to the Arnside area quicker than expected. I reach the
reserve and am greeted by Lesley and Sophie in the RSPB shop. They
want a photograph of the Biking Birder for the reserve's twitter
page.
Out onto
the reserve there are plenty of black-tailed godwits to see from
Lillian's hide, some are in beautiful summer plumage. With a small
group of redshank are a couple of spangly-backed ruff and a couple of
little egrets walk around the reedbed edge.
Next to
the Grisedale hide where a couple of female red deer are quite close
before quietly walking and disappearing into the reedbed.
A female
marsh harrier is sitting on a branch away to the left of the hide and
I sit and relax, enjoying watching the duck on the water, wigeon,
pintail and teal and the occasional group of up to four over-flying
buzzards.
With the
afternoon drawing to a close I head off for the causeway where a
couple of bittern were seen last sunday.
A couple
of residential volunteers, two young girls, are also looking for the
bittern. They were the birders who saw the bittern on Sunday but
report that to them the birds seemed to be leaving. Darkness falls
and water rail pig squeal but no bittern are either seen or heard.
All I get are a number of insect bites on my neck and head! Oh well,
it would have been nice to get bittern at Leighton Moss but there's a
couple of months in East Anglia to come.
19.16 Miles 976 feet elevation up 1119 feet elevation down
Wednesday 23rd
March No discernible wind cloudy, cool 6C
I get to
the reserve very early and enjoy birding around every trail and from
every hide. The insect bites from last night have blistered and the
lumps are hot and swollen. Ouch. These are worse than any bites I had
last year but need to be far worse to beat the ones I received from
horseflies back in 2010. Sausage lips!
I keep a
day list and by the time I reach the Lower Hide at the far eastern
end of the reserve I have forty-nine on the page. An adult
mediterranean gull flies past, fifty up.
Back to
the centre for a drink in the superb upstairs cafe, I meet Kevin who
was the laughing RSPB staff member to my right in the photograph from
last year.
He is going to Fair Isle this Autumn and it's great to
know that we will meet up there on the magical isle.
Before
leaving the reserve to start the long ride back over the Pennines I
go to the top of the high sky tower; a strong steel construction from
which one gets a panoramic view of the whole reserve.
It is superb to
be above a male marsh harrier flying past.
Leaving
the reserve, it has been lovely to visit this favourite RSPB reserve;
well one of them. It has everything; great birds, lovely staff and
diverse habitats as well as a great ambiance and cafe. What more
could one want? A broadwalk? There's a long new one which takes one
to the causeway through the reedbed. A tower? Already mentioned and
fabulous. Nature's Home garden ideas? It's all there. A superb RSPB
reserve.
6.66
Miles 352 feet elevation up 323 feet elevation down
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