A Day at Leighton Moss

We had an opportunity for a family day out yesterday with both me and wife off work and the kids still on school holidays. We had a ½ price voucher for the RSPB reserve at Leighton Moss near Arnside. The prices are not that bad in the first place but being a canny Scot at ½ price it is even better value. A family ticket is only £9.00 normally, with membership of the RSPB on £60 per year. For anyone who is interested in wild birds it is well worth the money.
We were informed that the Bitterns were now nesting in the area and we should be able to hear the boom of the mating calls from them, also that if we were lucky we may spot an otter and possible red deer, although the red deer are normally seen in the evening they are sometimes are down by the water during the day having a drink especially if the sun is out.
Well we headed down to the first hide and got the binoculars out. We sat there for a while enjoying the scenery and watching the birds. The peace and quiet was absolute bliss. We watched the coots and mallards for a while before moving on to the next hide. This was even better than the first. Whilst sitting watching the coots etc., we saw 2 adult & 1 young red deer on the bank furthest away from us, unfortunately just too far away for the compact digital to get a pic. We sat there watching and waiting to see if we could see anything else for about another 45 minutes. Just as we were starting to get ready to move to the 3rd hide, someone in the hide said there was an otter playing in the water, we stopped and watched through the binoculars as the otter had a play.
On moving to the third hide the first thing that I saw was a Heron. I sat there watching it moving through the water very stealthily and managed to get a couple of pics of it.
This was my second visit to the reserve the last time being about 7 years ago. Sitting there and reflecting on life in general I can start to understand why people go bird watching to these reserves.