Captain's Log 

Bittern

Unfortunately, St Aidans hasn't escaped the bird flu and there were quite a few dead birds about. There was even a dead  Mute Swan near the Causeway. As with RSPB Old Moor, I get the feeling that their are noticeably fewer birds around this year.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of a large bird crossing the trail. I raised my camera and clicked off a few shots, but it had travelled too far and my shots were blurry. Another fellow approached me from the other direction. 'Did you see the Burin?' He was Irish and I couldn't understand what he was saying. 'Pardon?' I replied. 'Did you see the Burin?' he said again. How embarrassing; I still couldn't understand what he said. In order to progress the conversation I said I thought the bird was a Marsh Harrier. 'No, no, it was a Burin' he replied. My brain went through all the birds I might expect at St Aidans and then did a fuzzy match with 'Burin.' Hah! He meant a Bittern. Yes, I said that it looked like a Bittern from my fuzzy photo. He must have been a local since he said that a good place to see them is in the reed beds of Astley Lake. I thanked him for the information and had a wander over there. I thought I saw a Bittern hiding in the reed beds but when I zoomed in I could see it was a Heron. I stayed a while but no Bittern showed and so I started making my way back to the Visitor Centre.

It had been a good day at St Aidans with much to see. I saw my first ever Bittern...admittedly, it was just out of the corner of my eye. The highlight though was that stunning Black Necked Grebe.

Lowther Lake

I'd not had a look at Lowther lake on my last visit and so I diverted off towards it for a peruse.  It was a pretty enough lake, and had several platforms for fishing. The St Aidan's trail map promised that I'd be able to walk all the way around it, but I found the trail blocked off at its eastern end, with a diversion that would take me away from the reserve, and so I started to retrace my steps back to Bowers lake. A dark cloud drifted in from the north east and it started to rain. I took some meagre shelter under some pine trees and waited 10 minutes for it to ease. 

I saw plenty of Tufted Ducks on Bowers lake. In fact, I saw plenty of Tufted Duck in the other lakes too. I got a nice photo of one that looked as though it was having a bad-feather day.

Pink Footed Geese

'Are you a birder?' My inquisitor was an offical looking young woman who had a hissing two-way radio in one hand, and a pair of binoculars in the other.  Of course, I didn't want to admit to being on the nursery slopes of birding, nor did I want to get into a conversation where my ignorance would be quickly exposed. I do have a couple of  'O' levels though, and thought about showing her a snapshot of my 'O' level certificates that I keep on my phone, just to demonstrate that I do have some competencies. Unfortunately, during my dithering, she'd obviously sussed me out and turned her attention to another bloke who looked a better 'birder' prospect. I tagged along to see if I could learn anything. It turned out that she thought she'd seen some Pink Footed Geese, and wanted some assistance in confirming it. She tried pointing them out, but the whole area was covered with Canada and Greylag Geese and so it was pretty much impossible. Maybe if the Pink Footed ones had laid on their backs and waggled their pink feet in the air, I might have had a fighting chance.  It was never going to happen and so I slunk off and left them to it.

I followed the path that splits the Western and Eastern reedbeds in the hope that I might see a Bittern, Marsh Harrier or Bearded Tit. There was not even a Bittern boom. How disappointing. A Wren sang a merry song. It amazes me how loud they are given their small size.

Hillside And Pastures

I took the trail that goes up through pastures to the top of the hillside, at the northern end of the reserve. There were plenty of Canada and Greylag geese roosting in the pastures. I scanned them to see if any of them had pink feet, but I had no success. The trail contoured along the side of a wood and due to the elevation, there was an impressive view across all the lakes of the reserve. Some Long-tailed Tits darted about between the trees. They have to rate at 11 on the cuteometer. I noticed that they seem to have a curious way of flying; they seem to flap a few times and then hold their wings together in a freefall, before starting to flap again. Maybe they were just doing it to impress me.

Another massive grey cloud was approaching from the north east and it was a bit of a race as to who would reach the carpark first. It beat me by a couple of minutes, and so ensured that I had a damp journey back home.

St Aidans had been a bit quiet today. It is February of course; things will be a bit busier in a few week's time. I never saw that Peregrine Falcon. I may have seen some Pink Footed Geese, but they just got lost in the crowd.

A Walk Around The Lakes

The entrance to the site is on elevated ground and it provided a fine view across all of the Lakes. Most of the bird cries were from the thousands of Black Headed Gulls that nest on the site.

It really is a very large area and it is worth printing off the RSPB map for reference. The mighty 'Oddball' is visible from most of the site and provides a good navigation point. I started off around the eastern perimeter. 

Some of the paths drifted away from the edge of the lakes and into woodland restricting some of the views. I was surprised how few people were about. On a track next to the Main Lake, a person started approaching from the opposite direction. He looked a bit nervous and so I gave him a wide berth. Just a little further along, I noticed a tent beneath some trees. I'd guess the fellow was living rough. Eventually the track brought me to the Causeway. This is a track that heads off back into the heart of the reserve between the Lemonroyd and Main lakes.

On the Causeway a Kestrel hovered above me. It was soon chased away though by a Black Headed Gulls. It was chased into another colony of Black Headed Gulls and pandemonium ensued.

I was a little disappointed to find that there were no hides to view the birds. There was one near Astley Lake, but this wasn't open to the public. Even so, there was still plenty of wildlife to be seen. I'd brought my macro lens with me and for a while I got absorbed in the amazing macro world. Before I knew it, another hour had passed. 

There are supposed to be Marsh Harriers and Buzzards over the Eastern and Western reedbeds, but a Kestrel was the only birdy of prey I saw. There are also supposed to be Bitterns too, but I was probably a bit late to hear their booming sound.

I started making my way back in the direction of 'Oddball'. At one point a weasel scuttled across the track in front of me. I spent some time watching some Goldfinches darting about the reeds. They added a splash of colour to the day.

I'd enjoyed my first time at St Aidans. It would be interesting to return at a different time of year and see how the bird population changed.