Avocet from Morecambe Hide 1sr March sees Meteorological Spring and Bittern are booming in the reed beds at Leighton Moss. There are some nine males, a warden tells, and each bird has a unique voice print- if one has the skill to distinguish it. Their booming calls resonate and carry three miles on a still day. Once they are feeding young they may become more visible as they fly to and fro carrying food. Bittern are secretive birds and far more often heard then seen.
How many folk have heard and seen bittern, I wonder? Our relationship with wildlife has changed dramatically over the centuries. In the winter of 1774 there were floods at Selborne and naturalist Gilbert White was brought several bittern shot by local hunters. He studied them, then ate them rather than waste them. Bittern was often served at medieval feasts and Books of Hours are adorned with images of bittern. The birds were hunted almost to extinction and their recent successful breeding programme requires the careful maintenance of their reed-bed habitat, and the creation of new areas of wetland.
The drive to the sea-hides is something of a challenge, the track being badly rutted and huge potholes awash after such a wet winter. Elder grow at the approach to the Morecambe hide and this time of year I look for Jew's ear that grows on the branches of the shrub. In structure the fungal fruit-body resembles an ear and looks soft and velvety. Today (and always) we are bird watchers and listeners too. Water-levels are high in the pool, the islets where birds nest are noisy with black-headed gulls, and water laps high about them. We search and search to find a distant pair of avocet. Redshank are calling and they huddle beneath a distant bank and on the shore of an island where there's a single widgeon amongst them.
The drive to the sea-hides is something of a challenge, the track being badly rutted and huge potholes awash after such a wet winter. Elder grow at the approach to the Morecambe hide and this time of year I look for Jew's ear that grows on the branches of the shrub. In structure the fungal fruit-body resembles an ear and looks soft and velvety. Today (and always) we are bird watchers and listeners too. Water-levels are high in the pool, the islets where birds nest are noisy with black-headed gulls, and water laps high about them. We search and search to find a distant pair of avocet. Redshank are calling and they huddle beneath a distant bank and on the shore of an island where there's a single widgeon amongst them.
Bittern booming is the surround-sound but they remain hidden. Out in the pool at Causeway HIde a cormorant perches on a pole. The water is too high for snipe which sometimes huddle in the reeds.
The wardens know everyone is eager to see that avocet are returned to breed. The pair are far out across the pool so I pay little attention to the large ducks up-ended and feeding. I assume they're shoveler. But my images show at least one shelduck so I reckon both species are present.
As we return to the visitor centre I spy scarlet amongst mossy branches amongst the leaf-litter. Once I search I find a splendid display of scarlet elf cup, another early fungus. There are so many and the young fruit-bodies are perfect in shape, cup-like and tiny . As they mature they grow larger and lose that perfect form.
So a bird-listening day, memorable for bittern booming. Speaking our love of this place it's a sense of peace, a serenity as we gaze over the pools looking and listening for what we may or may not find. Today, we did not see bittern but we have seen them, and will again. Meanwhile, it's good to know they are here.
The wardens know everyone is eager to see that avocet are returned to breed. The pair are far out across the pool so I pay little attention to the large ducks up-ended and feeding. I assume they're shoveler. But my images show at least one shelduck so I reckon both species are present.
As we return to the visitor centre I spy scarlet amongst mossy branches amongst the leaf-litter. Once I search I find a splendid display of scarlet elf cup, another early fungus. There are so many and the young fruit-bodies are perfect in shape, cup-like and tiny . As they mature they grow larger and lose that perfect form.
So a bird-listening day, memorable for bittern booming. Speaking our love of this place it's a sense of peace, a serenity as we gaze over the pools looking and listening for what we may or may not find. Today, we did not see bittern but we have seen them, and will again. Meanwhile, it's good to know they are here.
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