Monday 17th November - weather bright and sunny for my first visit to Leighton Moss RSPB. I had heard so much about this reserve so I was really looking forward to it. Once again though, the hides, mainly facing south or west, with a bright low winter sun are far from ideal for photography.

Not much unusual from the first hide except for a feeding Snipe

so we headed for the Eric Morecambe hide which, I had been told, was great for photography.

A pair of sleeping Redshank caught my eye

as did a rather distant female Goosander.

and a Shoveler.

But mostly, the birds were sleeping so little else to get the camera working so we moved back to other hides. Nothing to show except for a pair of very wet feet as the water level was very high and some of the paths were flooded as shown by this quick shot (into the sun) of a Water Rail feeding on the path.

So returning for the afternoon to the Eric Morcambe Hide there was now more activity. A Great White Egret flew in with the sun behind it.

and the various ducks were paddling around - opportunty for something different. Shoveler, Teal and Wigeon.

and that was it for the day. First impressions of this reserve is that it has tremendous possibilities for photography - but not on the day we went there.

Returning home the next day, we called in at a couple of reserves but the weather was awful so few photos taken and none worth keeping.