Sizergh Castle NT & Leighton Moss RSPB

Today was Lia’s last full day in the UK so I decided to do some birding in Lancashire on our way back down to Halifax. We left Keswick early morning to arrive at our first destination in good time; the National Trust property of Sizergh Castle, where we hoped to find Hawfinches. I had been here before and had no luck with this species but this time we were early in the morning and recorded three individuals feeding in the tops of the trees, albeit in gloomy conditions.

-Hawfinch

Next, we headed down to Leighton Moss where we hoped to get a few more wetland species. We had nice views of Marsh Tit and Pintail, and we even had a flyby from a Bittern. There were lots of birds around and in the end, we managed a very respectable 60 species.

-Northern Pintail

-Marsh Tit

-Greater Scaup

Species List:

Sizergh Castle NT: Mute Swan, Common Pheasant, Common Woodpigeon, Black-headed Gull, Eurasian Jay, Western Jackdaw, Rook, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Goldcrest, Eurasian Nuthatch, Common Starling, Mistle Thrush, Redwing, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Grey Wagtail, Common Chaffinch, Hawfinch, Eurasian Bullfinch, Lesser Redpoll,

Leighton Moss RSPB: Greylag Goose, Mute Swan, Whooper Swan, Northern Shoveler, Gadwall, Eurasian Wigeon, Mallard, Northern Pintail, Eurasian Teal, Tufted Duck, Greater Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Common Pheasant, Little Grebe, Feral Pigeon, Common Woodpigeon, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Northern Lapwing, Common Snipe, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Great Cormorant, Eurasian Bittern, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Western Marsh Harrier, Common Buzzard, Eurasian Jay, Eurasian Magpie, Western Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Coal Tit, Marsh Tit, Eurasian Blue Tit, Great Tit, Bearded Tit, Goldcrest, Eurasian Nuthatch, Eurasian Treecreeper, Eurasian Wren, Common Starling, Redwing, Fieldfare, Common Blackbird, European Robin, Dunnock, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Common Chaffinch, Eurasian Bullfinch, European Greenfinch, European Goldfinch, Eurasian Siskin,