A Bit Thin!

When BT suggested to me that we start at LM today if I'd have thought I could have got away with it I would have jumped out of his car and run a mile, but with my respect for BT I readily agreed, a good idea......but oh dear two LM days in succession!

Interesting that there's no fear of becoming a bore and repeating yesterday's records because when we entered the Eric M'cbe Hide the place had changed with the overnight high tide from being the best location in the North West and beyond to just about the worst, as the complex was more reminiscent of Lake Windermere and not a wader in sight, not quite true actually as I found 6 Dunlin in the distance, 2 Little Egret were here as yesterday, as were 2 Little Gull, but the best had to be the female Ruddy Shelduck which I failed to find yesterday, though a bird not to be taken 'seriously'. A Raven went over, and from the path a Sedge Warbler and 2 Whitethroat all gave excellent views. At the Griesdale Hide I noted 2 Little Egret, a juvenile Marsh Harrier showed well, and 2 Red Deer one of which was a smart stag. At the Lillian Hide I counted 340 Coot and little if anything else whilst beginning to understand what the guy meant when he said to me yesterday as he departed from the Public Hide 'the excitement is becoming too much for me here'.

So now wer'e off to walk over Yealand Allotments to Gaitbarrows to search for butterflies which is precisely what it turned out to be 'a search'. Meadow Brown's were the most numerous, followed by much fewer Speckled Wood, 4 Painted Lady, and obviously by far the best find eventually were 4 High Brown Fritillary. Birds seen were a Buzzard and a mixed flock of 'tit's' which held at least 8 Coal Tit's.

I think maybe today's post title is a little untrue but there you go. As for the pic, well......despite yesterday's threat to keep him out in cold and off the blog BR has yet again won the day with a stunning image of a male Marsh Harrier at Leighton Moss......what else is there for me to say.