Quiet please! we're birdwatching!

Another day off, a sunny day too, so with boots at the ready our destination today was Silverdale, in the north of the county. Over a packed lunch on a chilly picnic table at nearby Leighton Moss our plans changed, so rather than the 4 mile walk we'd thought of, instead we spent the day exploring the wetlands of the nature reserve. The network of paths meant we'd still enjoy a fair walk, and as well we could visit the hides and explore the scenery.


There's a variety of trails leading from the well equipped visitor centre (and cafe, which we tested later on), all leading to or passing a number of hides along the way.

The nearest hide is Lilian's hide, only a short walk from the visitor centre, so very convenient, especially if carrying some heavy gear as many of the birdwatchers inside were. Some of the lenses being trained on the birds on the lake outside put my basic telephoto to shame!

From Lilian's hide we found our bearings and then set off on the longest leg of all the trails out towards the causeway, a straight public bridleway cutting straight across the reedbeds. On the way a plump robin on a tree posed for photos - they must train the birdlife well here! Right in the middle of the mere is another large hide, though the wheelchair sign on the disabled entrance confused some in our group who thought it was a public toilet. At least we worked it out before any mishaps!

Aside from the gulls, geese and ducks, out on the island was a large cormorant but our cameras weren't powerful enough to capture it clearly.

The experts in the hides were becoming a little distracted though by our clumsiness and inability to identify anything but the simplest of ducks and our already short attention spans were starting to wane.

Before heading back though we visited the farthest hide in the reserve, and along the way we alost fell over a very tame pheasant on the path. This hide was the most disappointing though as even the birds considered it too far to bother with.

From here it was a long walk back to the visitor centre and the cafe for a little refreshment.




Out across the other side, there were two more hides to visit. Talking to some of the experts outside Tim Jackson's hide (why they are named after former work colleagues is a mystery) we learned about a Pintail to be seen, but the hide was a 'bit crowded' (our parents had already gone in). Not long after and not surprisingly we were the only people left inside, Mum was enthusiastically pointing out another duck as the rest of us prided ourselves for recognising a heron fishing on the opposite bank.

By now the real experts had learned to stay well clear of our group as we visited the last of the hides in the main reserve. There are a couple more by the coast about a mile down the road but we were thinking of food and decided to walk back to the cars and head back for a pub meal at the Boar's Head at Barton. There was plenty of laughter as we recollected our first (and perhaps last) attempt at birdwatching!