The 128 hectares of the Leighton Moss reserve include the largest reed bed in the area and being surrounded by limestone hills the base rich water running into the reserve has resulted in a richness of fauna and flora.  We parked at the RSPB visitor centre at 9.15am and by 9.30am we were off.  The weather did not look promising being cold with the promise of rain.  Walking down the footpath within the reserve we reached and turned right into the public causeway.  As we passed the hides a birdwatcher emerged armed with a radio detection antenna who showed us how he pinpointed the positions of the Bitterns by taking two readings about 100 yards apart.  A signboard on the causeway had informed us that Leighton Moss reserve’s Bitterns represented 20% of the UK population.  Asking the birdwatcher how many Bitterns were now at the reserve he was pleased to inform us that this year there had been a 25% increase and now there were five.  As we chatted to him he casually pointed out two Bearded Tits in the reeds only a few yards away and we spent the next 5 minutes getting excellent views of this pair of birds.  Eventually moving on we left the causeway at the far end and walked up the path to where it joined the road leading to Leighton Hall.  Passing the gates to the hall we walked uphill with a fair amount of puffing to reach a bench which provided an excellent excuse to stop and look at the view back across the hall and its grounds towards the reed beds of the reserve. Moving again we walked down the road passing the entrance to Leighton Hall estate before turning to the right and entering a footpath leading through the woods towards Crag Foot.  Emerging from the woods near Crag Foot we once again were overlooking the RSPB reserve and being higher than the reed beds and with the light behind us we scanned the reeds for Marsh Harrier.  The weather was definitely a bit iffy and the Harriers were nowhere to be seen.  Moving on we reached the road and turned northwards until we reached the track leading leftwards to the saltmarsh and the other major part of Leighton Moss Reserve.  Down the track and under the railway bridge but instead of turning left to the hides we turned right on the footpath leading across the saltmarsh towards Jenny Brown’s Point.  There were few birds to be seen on the saltmarsh and we were making good time as we left the footpath and joined the road leading towards Silverdale.  Looking across the sands the light reflected from the channels and we pondered on the difficulty of trying to reach safety if trapped on the sands  with a fast incoming tide.  After passing the National Trust signboard at Jack Scoutwe left the road and meandered along a path though the Gorse bushes and trees where we found numerous deeply spotted orchards on the short rabbit cropped grass banks which we guessed were Early Purple Orchards.  On reaching the road again we turned towards Silverdale but had only completed a few hundred yards when the heavens opened and the rain lashed down.  Luckily we were passing an open fronted barn by the road and dived in to shelter. Twenty minutes later the rain eased off a little and we decided to continue ourwalk, but instead of walking to Silverdale we cut short the walk and turned right at the next road junction and took the roads back to the cars at the Leighton Moss reserve. We had expected to cover 8 miles on the walk but this change of route had reduced this distance to about 7 miles and we were back at the cars at 1.0pm.  This gave us time to eat our sandwiches, spend 30 minutes in Lilians Hide, and a further 20 minutes in the RSPB shop. A good way to finish the day’s walk.

INDEX PAGE for the THURSDAY GROUP WALKS