Late post for yesterday ,18/02/11 .
Red head smew still showing well from harrier hide.
Eight avocets from United Utilities hide.
Up to four ringed plovers from Ron Barker hide.
30+ ruff , several oystercatchers and countless lapwing .
Bramblings, easily outnumbering any other species at the Janet Kear hide feeding station , up to fourteen individual birds seen at once !
Good numbers of shelduck,widgeon,pochard, pintail and teal.
2 m and 1 f goldeneye showing really well right in front of Raines observatory .
Plus all the other usuals .
Cheers Chris.

Female Smew showing well this morning plus two peregrines and little grebe from Harrier Hide
5 Avocet , best views from United Utilities Hide & In Focus shop
Ringed Plover
20+ Ruff
Redshank
Oystercatchers
Lapwings
plus all the usual suspects

-- Edited by Jon Bowen on Sunday 13th of February 2011 06:28:29 PM

Female smew again from Harrier Hide but a bit distant. Bramblings at Janet K hide.

Phil

Female Smew showing well from Harrier Hide. Quite active, flying between channels.

Bramblings from Janet Keir Hide.

A nice couple of hours this afternoon in good conditions. Highlights being:

Harrier Hide
Red Head Smew

Janet Kear Hide
10+ Brambling

United Utilities Hide
2 Buzzard (1 feeding on carrion and getting hassled by crows)

Ron Barker Hide
Another 2 Buzzard
1 Ringed Plover (plus another from In Focus)

Again, I've managed to miss the Marsh harriers here!!

7/2/11

A couple of hours in the hides this morning sheltering from the gales:

Smew (redhead) still present, swimming up and down the channels in front of the Harrier Hide.

1 Marsh Harrier (f/imm)
2 Peregrines sat on the ground
1 Raven at a carcass
10+ Bramblings from Janet Kear Hide
7 Oystercatcher
2 Great Spotted Woodpecker
8 Reed Bunting

Usual large numbers of Whoopers, Pinkfeet, Shelduck, Wigeon, Greylags, Pochard, Teal etc etc

Thanks guys, I was a bit stuck on that one!

Hi Joe, the duck you descibed is a Bahama Pintail. It has been present for several weeks and often gives very close views in front of Raines Observatory during the afternoon Swan Feeds. Needless to say it didn't "jump the fence" from the collection Origin unknown

Joe Wynn wrote:
funny looking pochard-like duck on main mere, flying low over water, didn't have a clue what it was, probably an escape. Can anyone help? it had white cheeks, a red bill with black tip, mottled brown body and lighter brown wingbars. I've got a photo of it if anyone's interested
cheers,
joe

---

Possibly a Bahama Pintail?

Had to get a new tripod head freom in focus, and had an extended look around the reserve whilst there. This produced
1 Marsh Harrier eating carrion beyond the main mere
23 Brambling at the janet kear hide- cracking views
c.10 tree sparrows with brambling
c.50 greenfinch/chaffinch with brambling
2 Goldfinch
2 GS Woodpecker
The usual mix of pochard, shellduck, whoopers (couldn't find any bewick), pink feet, teal, pink feet, etc.
2 ruff, probably more but not visible
apparrently there was a redhead smew at harrier hide, but i missed it as it was down one of those canals in the reeds
c.50 Fieldfare on Red Cat Lane, just near burscough
funny looking pochard-like duck on main mere, flying low over water, didn't have a clue what it was, probably an escape. Can anyone help? it had white cheeks, a red bill with black tip, mottled brown body and lighter brown wingbars. I've got a photo of it if anyone's interested
cheers,
joe

Barn owl hunting over the reeds on sunday 3 ish visible from the harrier hide or the viewing screens as part of the reedbed walk around the edge of martin mere, also 1 marsh harrier and buzzard, large flocks of brambling and linnets in the tall trees on the same sed walk

-- Edited by Dennis atherton on Monday 24th of January 2011 07:36:55 PM

Please note that this thread is now dedicated to Martin Mere ONLY. Marshside RSPB now has it own dedicated thread. I appreciate that there are many sightings from Marshside on here but each site, now regularly visited by users of this forum deserves it own thread.

Quick trip to Martin Mere Monday lunchtime.

Nothing very special, but amazing numbers of Brambling (maybe 20) seemed to outnumber Chaffinch.

Sorry, my post 10th Dec, should have read Reed "Buntings"

52 species seen on site

Highlights:

Janet Kear hide:

2 brambling
female GSW
fox (!)
snipe
missed a woodcock by 15 minutes

The mere:

Distinct lack of diving duck with only a handful of pochard in front of Raines Observatory
pintail
1 bewick swan with the whoopers
single GBB gull in an aerial dogfight with a heron
canada x greylag hybrid

A poor day for raptors today (2 buzzards on fence-posts around the reserve) - presumably they are all at marshside?

Hesketh Park this pm with Mr Woosey

Firecrest showing well once found
Nuthatch
Coal Tit
Goldcrest
Long Tailed Tits

Cheers

A mobile flock of 50-60 mixed twite and linnets north of the Weld Road car park near Southport this afternoon.

We had a good day here.
I had not seen that so many Ruff, and it was my first for the Brambling.
Teal,
Pintail
Widgeon
Mallard
Shelduck by the hundreds
Reed warblers
Bewick
Whooper
Will have to ask Jim about the Geese


-- Edited by Geoff Walton on Saturday 11th of December 2010 08:53:07 AM

I was at Martin Mere from 12:00 till 3pm yesterday, had to get out of the Manchester fog!?!?

Lots of birds out and about, despite the freezing temperatures:

Little Egret 1 (unusual for this time of year and the freezing conditions)
2 Peregrine (one caught a female wigeon in front of hide)
Merlin 1 (female/1CY male)
Buzzard 3
Sparrowhawk 1
Snipe 3
Lapwing, Ruf, Black-tailed Godwits - plenty
Wigeon, Pintail, Teal, Shelduck - plenty
Whooper Swan 2,000 plus
Bewick's Swan (5 seen the day before, but did not come in with arriving Whoopers from fields whilst I was there)
Pink-footed Goose 1,000s.......
Hybrid Canada Miniture/Barnacle
2 Brambling (pair on feeding table)
Fieldfare, Redwing, Tree Sparrow - plenty
Siskin 30+

Got some reasonable biriding in yesterday, got usual wildfowl (pintail, teal, wigeon, whoopers, pink feet, greylags,etc.), a few tree sparrow, a rat near in focus, a stoat near the visitor centre, a green winged teal in front of the ron barker and a lot of fieldfare showing well from the road and from the path to ron barker eating hawthorn berries from the bush.

Pretty quiet this morning

Large Peregrine (presumably female) to'ing and fro'ing in front of the Ron Barker hide, generally hassling everything - even had a swoop at a Greylag at one point

Few hundred Pinkfeet still around

Most of the swans were out in the fields and very few on the reserve proper.

Plenty of Chaffinches around but no Brambling

Visited this a.m. with P&N Johnson, most unusual bird was an Avocet amongst all the expected species, also had very close views of Ruff which was nice
Cheers Ian

Had my visit to Martin mere this morning since I was a kid. It certainly brought back memories and seemed as if it hadn't changed much since I was last there.

Anyway, sightings as follows:

2 Peregrine
1 Little Grebe
c50 Barnacle geese + 1 Red Breasted
1 Sparrowhawk
3 Snipe
Loads of the following:
Whooper swans
Pink feet
Greylag
Teal
Pintail
Ruff
Black tailed Godwit
Wigeon

Also had 5 Brambling and 2 Fieldfare in front of Harrier hide.

Managed to get some good shots off too.

Went to Martin Mere yesterday with wife and small grandchild - couldn't have a proper birding day but managed Peregrine, Marsh Harrier and Kingfisher within five minutes. Tree Sparrows very common, can't be missed especially when they are trying to nest in the eaves of the main visitor centre.

martin mere


Fields full of pinkies, also hundreds of whoopers, some white fronted geese have been seen recently by wardens but could not find any myself, 20 barnacles, a few ruff flying around, probably the same peregrine Ian saw sat most of the day on probably the same post seen from swanlink hide, also 2 female marsh harriers, 3 black taild godwits, lots of pintails, tree sparrows near infocus and also great woodie

marshside afternoon

2 peregrines, 1 merlin, 1 kestrel, nothing out of the ordinary, lots of widgeon, pintail, pink feet, curlew, black tailed godwits,

Took my little lad and Dad over to Martin Mere this afternoon the pinkie numbers are just unbelievable lots of whoopers to. Really good day my Dads first visit and he cant wait to go again.I heard off one of the wardens that its a record year for the geese.

I think that the flock of Barnacles at MM are feral so that may explain the apparent indifference?

Spent the morning at Marshside then Martin Mere
At Marshside spectacular views of thousands of Pink-Footed Geese, in the air, on the ground, everywhere, I'd never seen so many. Also huge number of Wigeon, Lapwing, lots of Pochard, Teal, Shelduck, Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit. Over 80 Little Egret, flock of 120 Shoveller at Nells Hide, flock of 40+ skylark above. Distant views of a Peregrine out on the salt marsh and my best ever views of a female Merlin just in front of Sandgrousers hide for over 15 mins.
At Martin Mere the number of Pink-Footed Geese was just mind blowing,far more than the most I'd ever seen just 30 mins earlier at Marshside. About 11.00 am from Ron Barker hide also had a flock of 60+ Barnacle Geese fly in to land in field beyond large right hand mere as you look straight out of the hide, when I reported this at reception the staff said this was very unusual(I think they thought I'd made a mistake) Also lots of Whooper Swans now presnet and a Peregrine giving excellent views sat on a post in front of Swan link hide.
All in all a brilliant mornings birding, I can't stop smiling even now just typing this report.
Cheers Ian

Spent a nice couple of hours in RB Hide with Gordon Taylor. Nice to meet you Gordon.

Little Stint still on sand bank.
Pair of Curlew Sandpipers joined a group of Ruff around 10.30am.
Golden Plover in amongst all the Lapwings.

Marsh Harrier
Buzzard
Sparrow Hawk
Kestrel
Kingfisher making regular appearances along the dyke in front of the hide.

Plus all the usual stuff.

Visited yesterday pm , with missus . Pink foot numbers now up to about 36,000 ,apparently !! Was told about 450 whoopers now present ,staff eagerly awaiting the arrival of the first swans carrying the new red DARVIC rings...Also female teal present ,with "continental "type beak identification mark,ringed in Paris...not sure when though!! Two peregrines showing really well from Ron Barker hide,both birds just chillin',on fence posts. Also two marsh harriers, regularly putting -up several hundred lapwings!! Also from R B hide was a male kingfisher ,posing for the cameras , right in front of the hide...the longest time I've ever seen one sit still!! Very distant views of little stint on small sandbar.. courtesy of Marvin Lewis and his scope ,( nice to meet you Marvin ) Also good numbers of teal,pintail,widgeon and shelduck, and about 12 ruff ,sheltering behind some greylags.. Thanks to Jane (my missus), for a great birthday day - out !!! Cheers Chris

Marshside 08/10/10 - 9am - 3.30pm

Sandplant Road - High Tide
Knot
Grey Plover
Dunlin
Sanderling
Ringed Plover (4)
Curlew
Redshank
Oystercatcher
Kestrel
Marsh Harrier - 1 ad Female
Little Egret
Skylark
Meadow Pipit
Linnet
Goldfinch
Shelduck
Pink Footed Goose
Cormorants
GBBG / LBBG / BHG / Common Gull

From Sandgrounders Hide
Wigeon / Teal / Shoveler
Lapwings
Snipe
Black Tern - 1 winter adult
Grey Heron

From Nels Hide
Wigeon / Teal / Shoveler / Gadwall
Red Crested Pochard - 1 Female
Black Tailed Godwit
Bar Tailed Godwit - 1 Juv
Redshank
Ruff
Dunlin
Greenshank (4)
Peregrine
Little Egret

-- Edited by Luke Brown on Saturday 9th of October 2010 11:21:39 AM

I could well be wrong but I don't recall Martin Mere having Ring-necked Duck in their collection anyway , a very nice find for one Manchester Birding regular.

-- Edited by Ian McKerchar on Sunday 26th of September 2010 08:04:36 PM

mm 3.00-6.30pm

went to martin mere after the ring necked duck and tickety tick managed to find it along the reedbed walk visible from the second screen it was showing well until it decided to go to sleep early about 4.00pm and never fed after this only showing its strange shaped head and ringed bill occasionaly.the bird is an adult male and a lifer for me no rings visible so heres hoping it isnt a fence hopper.
Best bit was 6.00pm when thoughsands of pinkfeet flw into roost ,rght over the top of my head spectacular and i now feel winter birding has arrived. whoopers next please

Called in at Marshside just a little after Sid left at 1.00pm. Cracking views of the Pectoral Sandpiper right in front of the hide. Other birds of note seen were:

4 Spotted Redshank
2 Curlew Sandpiper

Ducked out on the Red Crested Pochard (forgive the pun)!!

Marshside 07.15 - 11.30 Sunny with a light breeze

Insomnia struck again last night so up and out early and headed off to the sea-side again - as I arrived at the car park the sky was filled with the unmistakeable calls of 100's of Pink footed Geese as some were headed out to the marsh and others were arriving. Spent a long time in Nels hide as there was much to see including
2 Spotted Redshanks, 2 Curlew Sandpipers, many Black-tailed Godwits, Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon, 1 Snipe, 1 Pintail, the leucistic female Red-crested Pochard and 2 Curlew Sandpipers accompanying a Pectoral Sandpiper a new bird for me - a Peregrine blasted through.

Later on the Marsh, Wheatear, Linnet, 13 Little Egret, several House Martin and finally down at Crossens a huge flock of Knot performing their dramatic aerial flight
manoeuvres.

Had a really nice morning's birding - thought about calling in a Mere Sands wood but decided against the Purple Heron as lunch was calling I had seen one in Cornwall a couple of years ago in any case

No purple heron been seen since

lots of sparrowhawk action from ron barker today, passing peregrine putting everything up, also 6 ruff, 1 common sandpiper, 1 black tailed godwit, 1 snipe, 2 curlew and star bird was a single golden plover in with all the lapwings,
afternoon visit to mere sands wood was very quiet but did see 3 pink feet there, my first ones this fall

martin mere
A good mixture of birds today but the target bird purple heron was nowhere to be seen several ruff about but couldnt turn any of them into a pec sand .A couple of ringed plover and 2 juv dunlin moving amongst them and raptors kept them vey much on their toes sparrowhawk ,kestrel, peregrine ,buzzard and 2 marsh harriers both appeared to be juvs.Fields freshly mown in anticipation of the pink feet arrival not long now.A few snipe about and wagtails with young,didnt manage to see the kingfisher today but you cant win them all.It was noted that Vernon again failed with the cakes probably too much diy and not enough planning for our bird trips and its no excuse keep blaming Pat.

marshside
Lots of black tailed godwits about and feeding right infront of sandgrounders hide . Nels was very quiet not much water .
pollys was ok, with a little stint my first this year showing well and a peregrine kindly pointed out to us by scouse John ,regulars at the mere will know who i meen On the outer marsh we counted 18 little egrets and a distant harrier was heading up the estuary away from us

I must add we did the reed bed walk at mm lots of SMALLISH tortoiseshell butterflys feeding on the thistles and speckeled browns in the more shaded areas.Also a good day for the larger hawker dragonflies.

martin mere

male kingfisher showing well from the ron baker hide along with kestrel,water rail,snipe,black tailed godwits,ruff and swallows presume to be feeding young.Lapwings and teal are on the increase and a couple of wigeon making an appearance.Not long now before the first pink feet arrive cant wait.Another enjoyable visit with some good company

Popped in to Martin Mere for an hour or so on way home from Heysham. Was hoping for some rain to push down some waders from the sky, but it didn't turn up!? Lots of activity on the reserve though, with young birds everywhere. At one point I had Avocet, Moorhen and Lapwing chicks in my scope at the same time, lovely .

Whooper Swan 3
Shelduck 20+ and even more chicks
1 Peregrine (young bird - could this be a Greater Manchester bird??)
1 Buzzard (distant)
Avocets 17
Dunlin 3
Lapwing 120+
Little Ringed Plover 1
250+ Black-tailed Godwit
2 Snipe
3 Redshank
2 Oystercatcher
Lots of Sand Martins and Swifts
Tree Sparrows aplenty

Common Tern (2), Green (3) and Common (3) Sandpiper were reported on the reserve, but must have been hiding , as well a pair of Yellow Wagtails that were observed yesterday with nest material??

Look forward to my next visit, the mud looks good there for waders over the next month or so..................

1/7/10 am

Martin Mere WWT

1 Peregrine (carrying prey)
1 Green Sandpiper
2 Common Tern
many Avocets(inc juvs)
4 Ringed Plover (inc 1 juv)
50+ Black-tailed Godwit
1 Snipe
5 Redshank
4 Oystercatcher
many Shelduck (inc juvs)
1 Kesrel
4 Whooper Swan
2 Pink-footed Goose
15 Greylag Goose
1 Pintail
1 Common Gull
many Tree Sparrow (inc juvs)
2 Linnet
many Sand Martins & Swifts

Dennis atherton wrote:

---

Very very dry, 90 %of all the water has gone, we need some rain here soon, just two avocet chicks today the usual redshanks, greylags, black tailed godwits, oystercatchers, dunlin, sedge warblers singing away, also reed warbler, loads of meadow pipits, skylark, swallow, house martins and swift,


kingfisher and tawny owl at mere sands wood i n the morning, three GSWoodies, nuthatch, chiffchaff and willow warblers, not much else

---

You can add a juvenile Cuckoo to the Mere Sands list was heard early afternoon and a record shot on my Flickr site also heard Goldcrest which is becoming a rarity for me and plenty of Blackcaps and Jays and two Common Terns have taken a shine to the raft
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sleipnerofasgard/

Frank

Very very dry, 90 %of all the water has gone, we need some rain here soon, just two avocet chicks today the usual redshanks, greylags, black tailed godwits, oystercatchers, dunlin, sedge warblers singing away, also reed warbler, loads of meadow pipits, skylark, swallow, house martins and swift,


kingfisher and tawny owl at mere sands wood i n the morning, three GSWoodies, nuthatch, chiffchaff and willow warblers, not much else

avocet,loads of greylag goose

Phil Owen wrote:

---

An amazing site on the marine lake was a group of at least 50 Mute Swans plus others swimming about and too many cygnets to count disbelief.gif

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reminds me of Neumans Flash the other morning Sid!!

---

there will be double that number at penny in a few weeks time

An amazing site on the marine lake was a group of at least 50 Mute Swans plus others swimming about and too many cygnets to count disbelief.gif

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reminds me of Neumans Flash the other morning Sid!!

We also managed an afternoon in the Marshside area where we saw almost exactly Dennis's list. The disappointment was that there appeared to be only three Avocet chicks present in front of Sandgrounders which, considering I counted 50 plus adult birds early in March seems a poor return.

An amazing sight on the marine lake was a group of at least 50 Mute Swans plus others swimming about and too many cygnets to count

-- Edited by sid ashton on Saturday 5th of June 2010 02:44:49 PM

marshside today,


very dry, there is almost no water at all from nells hide, just a little puddle, from the main hide are just all the usuals, avocets, black tailed godwits, oystercatchers, redshank, best sights of the day were a sedge warbler near the main hide and a reed warbler from the center screen

Popped into Martin Mere on way back from Heysham today.

A Red-necked Phalarope had an appearance yesterday, whist a Spoonbill was reported for the last 3 days, including this morning, but not this afternoon/early evening unfortunately! Still at least 3 Whooper Swans knocking around today too.

Little Ringed Plover 2
Avocet 30+ (and lots of chicks of varying sizes)
Redshank 20+
Lapwing 40+ (also with chicks everywhere)
Buzzard 2
Kestrel 1

Hirundines everywhere and a possible Hobby on my way back to the car along the path from the Ron Barker Hide, but only caught it flying overhead fast, before disappearing over and behind trees on the path and out of sight .

couple of hours this aft-couldn't face the flash on a sunday-getting too busy people wise even for me
now't at front of nels-the curlew sands have moved to the pools beyond sandgrounders
the usual at the front of sandgrounders,Avocets are having a poor year with predation of young,only 2 pairs with young to be found
a few black tailed godwits,dunlin,and redshank,plus the usual stuff

Cracking views of pair of CURLEW SANDPIPERS in front of Nell's Hide this afternoon. Offered excellent photo opportunities, as did AVOCETS and BLACK-TAILED GODWITS.