I'd thought I'd visit again and saw much the same as Monday's visit with an additional 9. These were.....
A brave mute swan was amongst the whoopers (they usually don't tolerate other swans) Song thrush Mistle thrush Jay Marsh harrier x4 Collared dove Wren Canada goose Rooks
My favourite highlights include:
Ruff - close Black tailed godwits - close Tree sparrow Barn owl Sparrowhawk (flew past in style - they seem to be attracted to me this week as it's the 4th day this week they have been showing off in front of me)
Back in Bolton, I was riding back home and a female tawny owl was calling very loudly and I saw her close in a small stumpy tree (mostly silhouetted). Incredible!!!!!
Ta!
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Which bird is ideal for keeping cakes in? I asked. The answer: a Bun-tin.
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A couple of my friends wanted to visit here, so off we went.
Every year I usually give this reserve one visit at least - and every year I notice gradually fewer whooper swans and shoveler on the main mere. Whether it's just me when I visit days like this or that something else is going on.
Anyway, not managed an as thorough scout as I would normally but nice to finally start getting out again!
Highlights out of 44 species include......
Great spotted woodpecker Reed bunting Tree sparrow 2x black tailed godwits close Ruffs Stock dove close Usual Shelducks Wigeon Pochard Teal Pintail Lapwings Kestrel Sparrowhawk Buzzard Barn owl Little egrets Great black backed gull Pink footed geese in their thousands and thousands near dusk
Ta!
__________________
Which bird is ideal for keeping cakes in? I asked. The answer: a Bun-tin.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/135715507@N06
A good solid birding day yesterday (21st August) clocked 58 species at Martin Mere and an additional 3(!) at Marshside. (Curlew, Oystercatcher and Common Gull)
Highlights were the flighty Long Billed Dowitcher (thanks to a kind lady who showed me through her scope in United Utilities Hide and apologies to my friends who didn't get their eyes to the scope before the bird flew!), large numbers of Black Tailed Godwit, several Snipe, at least 6 Greenshank with great elegance, 2 Knott, several Ruff, and 2 Green Sandpipers (Hale Hide). A female Garganey was resolutely asleep from Ron Barker Hide, and the long staying Whooper Swan was also seen there. A Raven was seen over the car park.
Plenty of Swallows and House Martins and a single Swift.
A relative raptorfest included 2 Buzzard, 2 Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, 2 Kestrel, Hobby and Sparrowhawk.
I was here today from around 11am til just after 4pm. As craig mentions very quiet & much the same sightings as Craigs but can add a few more... Sand martin was whizzing around the kingfisher hide in the afternoon & my earliest also. 3 tawny owls 1 marsh harrier 2 buzzard 2 little egret 2 ringed plover Corn bunting singing as I got out of my car on arrival but couldn't see it. Did get 3 corn bunting down curlew lane just before.
called in for a couple of hours this morning. Very quiet. A Sand Martin through south was the highlight and possibly my earliest ever. Not a let of else of note - Avocets from Ron Barker Hide, Tree Sparrows around the reserve paths and a couple of Ruff and Black-tailed Godwits on the Mere. Very few Pink-footed geese or Whooper Swans now.
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No one on their death bed ever said they wished they'd spent more time at work. http://bitsnbirds.blogspot.co.uk
Windy and cloudy morning on the reserve but dry. Whooper and Mute Swans, Pink-Footed Geese, Greylag Geese, 1x Greenland Whitefronted Goose, Teal, Pochard, Wigeon, Shelduck Mallard, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Pintail, Cormorant, Grey Heron. Lapwing, Ruff, Black-Tailed Godwit x2, 1x Tawny Owl, Greenfinch (x1), Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Robin, Blackbird, Magpie, Wood Pigeon, Stock Dove, 3x Marsh Harrier, Blue + Great Tits, Reed Bunting. No Tree Sparrows this week or last week, used to always be a certainty at Kingfisher Hide so not sure what happened.
Seen 51 species with several superb highlights including....
My suprise close experience with black tailed godwits - the closest I've physically been to them!! Also the ruffs were showing well too.
First thing in the morning I found 4 little egrets with 2 grey wagtails, and on my walkabouts a sparrowhawk flew past close (and again later), a peregrine was seen twice, a kestrel, buzzard, 2 snipes, reed bunting, pochards were in good numbers but pintails were in small numbers and I couldn't see any shovelers!!
A female goldeneye appeared out of nowhere at 2:30pm from under the water right in front of the discovery hide - it was just a shame the light was from the wrong direction!
I called it quits earlier than i wanted as I didn't want to risk over tiring myself after waking up too early in the morning. So, On my way back i found a flock of corn buntings and several local rooks too.
So overall a great day, and I guess I didn't do too bad either considering the thick cloud up until 2pm.
Ta!
__________________
Which bird is ideal for keeping cakes in? I asked. The answer: a Bun-tin.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/135715507@N06
Hi Gordon, that was my sighting yesterday. I had hoped to see the recent Hen Harrier but a Bittern was quite some compensation, even if it was a brief view. I had a nice day, managed 59 for the day including the walk to and from Burscough.
Any ideas if the Bittern bred here at all? I know back in April and May they had a booming bird and maybe 2 caught on a camera trap but then there was no mention except the Inner Reedbed walk opening again?
As that list implies, two good sized gull flocks in fields being ploughed; Mediterranean gulls present in both (2 each), though a good couple of hundred birds flew from one field to the other as I walked between them (first flock in excess of 400 black-headed gull alone), so could have been the same pair; also two separate birds over nearer the reserve.
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Sunday 1st of April 2018 10:52:43 PM
Lunchtime / early pm visit in brightening conditions. 1 x barn owl hunting along the fence line out on Vinsons Marsh. Avocets feeding from the pools in front of Ron Barker, also 3 x little egret from Kingfisher / Ron Barker and later 1 at United Utilities. Much tree sparrow activity in the nestboxes along the footpaths but the mere itself looking a lot quieter a scattering of whooper swans, a big huddle of black-tailed godwits on one of the islands and 2 x Mediterranean gulls on the small spit to the left of Raines Observatory. Just inside the collection area the first mallard brood I've seen this year, six ducklings.
On homeward journey a female sparrowhawk in unsuccessful pursuit of a woodpigeon through Parbold village.
-- Edited by Jeff Gorse on Friday 30th of March 2018 04:18:18 PM
Enjoyable day spent around here today; Harrier Hide was being shut up when I arrived there, so no chance to stake out the reed bed there, even for a short time. Plenty to see, with thousands of birds on site. Lovely day for it, too. Highlights:
Early afternoon visit, bright but bitterly cold. Highlights :-
3 x marsh harrier quartering the fields in the strong wind, viewed from Raines Observatory.
Several pairs of pochard in front of Discovery Hide, also usual good numbers of pintail, shelduck, wigeon. Black-tailed godwit and ruff here also.
Little egret from the Ron Barker Hide.
Most feeding station activity was at Kingfisher and not Janet Kear hide - tree sparrow, greenfinch, goldfinch, 3 x male pheasant, great spotted woodpecker and a busy bank vole darting around right in front of the windows.
around 1 degree but blue sunny skies today at Martin Mere.
Kingfisher Hide: Tree Sparrows x7 Blue Tit, Great Tit, Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Chaffinch, Greenfinch (just one), Blackbird. Looked for this tree that is a regular roost for the tawny owl very carefully but could not spot it despite spending quite some time looking up around Kingfisher hide (upper and lower area). Is anyone able to describe the tree in more detail? (big ask i know!!).
Ron Barker Hide: Buzzard, Water Rail, Kestrel of note and regulars. No Kingfisher, Linnet or Egrets of any kind though this time.
Plenty of pink footed geese, quite a spectacle still, all three swans, Pintail, cormorants, Teal, Tufted Duck, Greylag Goose, Song Thrush, 1 white farmyard looking goose, lapwing, Ruff.
-- Edited by Rene Griffiths on Sunday 7th of January 2018 04:18:44 PM
Early afternoon visit in misty and murky conditions. Sightings included :-
Kestrel showing well from Kingfisher and later even better from Ron Barker hides. Also 2x buzzard, 1 x peregrine
2 x little grebe in the dyke at the front of Ron Barker. Little egret also briefly seen here before it flew off to the adjacent farmland.
Large numbers of pintail, teal, shelduck, wigeon whooper swan and greylag goose on the mere, a handful of pochard and tufted duck. Pink-footed geese began accumulating on the outer marsh as the afternoon went on.
Ruff and lapwing in good numbers.
A stoat foraging along the bank in front of Ron Barker hide.
-- Edited by Jeff Gorse on Friday 22nd of December 2017 05:29:21 PM
On Saturday I visited Martin Mere WWT for the first time in over 10 years!! Wow so much has changed. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised and didn't think that it felt so much like a theme park as I had done on my last visit. I was invited along by friends who are WWT members and for a change Carys & I had a day out there with them. Once away from the visitor centre and collection areas the hides were not too busy (apart from Swan Feed) and we really enjoyed it.
Highlights included a juvenile Greenland White-fronted Goose from United Utilities Hide, found by GM's own Rob Adderley, nice to say hi to Rob & Sonia. A Barn Owl showed at dusk to just three of us in Rob Barker Hide, always a fabulous sight. A Water Rail was seen earlier from the same hide, showing well in the closest ditch. Other good birds were two Kingfishers, a Peregrine, a few Golden Plovers in with distant Lapwings, a couple of Marsh Harriers, several Goldeneye, a large flock of 40 or so Fieldfares, several of which landed near Ron Barker Hide, Cetti's Warbler, Tree Sparrows, large numbers of Ruff, and of course the sight & sound of thousands of Pink-footed Geese and Whooper Swans. 65 species seen, we mustn't leave it as long to come back again!
-- Edited by Doc Brewster on Monday 20th of November 2017 04:19:03 PM
Superb walk around the outskirts of the reserve this morning following the reedbed path.
Highlight was a flyover Hawfinch at 11.45, calling loudly and quite low. Also Marsh Harrier, Chiffchaff by sewerage works, 1000 Whooper Swan, 2000 Pink Footed Geese, 2 Fieldfare, Kingfisher.
Intriguingly, a very grey looking snipe like bird was flushed out of a field by a Common Buzzard , flew above my head, and looked bigger than a Common Snipe. Bill was huge, in my mind looked good for Long Billed Dowitcher, but couldn't clinch it with a rump view.
Mid to late afternoon visit encompassing the vast starling murmuration from Harrier Hide. Other sightings :-
Pintail and shelduck in ambundant evidence on the Mere along with good numbers of teal, wigeon, mallard, greylag. Handful of shoveler and pochard and single goldeneye (f). Relatively low numbers of whooper swan, less than 20 during the afternoon with the bulk out foraging in the surrounding farmland no doubt. Large flocks of pink-footed geese on the marsh with even larger skeins coming in as dusk fell.
Lapwing, black-tailed godwit, snipe and ruff in good numbers, the latter including a very striking bird with a totally white head and breast foraging at the Raines Observatory.
The Janet Kear feeders very quiet save for the omnipresent rat brood. However Kingfisher Hide was busier with fieldfare and redwing in the surrounding trees and goldfinch, tree sparrow and chaffinch on the feeders.
Buzzard and kestrel seen over the Mere / along the entrance road.
A fine day out and with 54 species, highlights included....
Close encounters of a treecreeper by the kingfisher hide, with goldcrest and, kingfisher, and along where the old Swan hide was, there was a snipe in full view along the waters edge giving me the best opportunity for some ace pictures in many years (a lapwing didn't like him and tried a few times to mob him), and there was a few skylarks over too. I was impressed with the number of cettis warblers on the reserve now as there was at least 4 individuals i know of. Reed buntings were seen at the feeders too!
Other birds to note was thousands and thousands of pink footed geese, usual pintail, wigeon, teal, gadwall, and a kestrel eating a vole on a post.
I was on foot this time from the station and the walk to the reserve added grey wagtail, house sparrow side by side with tree sparrows which was nice to see, mistle thrush and meadow pipit.
The only hitch was I couldn't get any lunch at all as the queues were unbelievable all day and only one till in operation, so ive unfortunately decided any future visits I will take my own lunch from now on!
Todays pics will be released starting next Friday as I've got all weeks to sort now!!!
Ta!
__________________
Which bird is ideal for keeping cakes in? I asked. The answer: a Bun-tin.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/135715507@N06
Long billed dowitcher spotted around 13:20. Distant mostly roosting views from United Utilities Hide against the light for the next hour and then I left.
I was originally planning to visit Leighton moss but circumstances didn't permit that to happen. So influenced by the reports of the long billed dowitcher I went to Martin mere instead.
When I arrived i went straight to the United utilities hide before it got crowded, I was wrong to assume that, so as the dowitcher lifer would have been a bonus to my trip, I decided to do my rounds to enjoy the wildlife as I normally do but just before I did, someone upstairs said "found it", and everybody but me and another dashed upstairs (as it happens, it was a false alarm) but as I did my rounds, it made me wonder how many in that hide would have seen more then 40 species.....
Out of 52 species seen today, highlights included, A drake pochard posing whilst feeding close, little stint found twice in the day (new for my Martin mere list), 3 whooper swans seen, over 12 mute swans, Marsh harrier, a very pale lesser black backed gull adult, pintail, 14 stock doves, buzzard, skylark, meadow pipit, little grebe and 20+ snipe.
At from lunch tI'll 2:30, i went around the reedbed walk, I loved it as an addition to my usual rounds, when I got back to the United utilities hide, there was only 3 other people in it, so I sat down and guess what? The long billed dowitcher turned up, though briefly!! Many thanks to the guys who found it!!!! Gave reasonably good views and though many have said it's snipe like, it's surprisingly much different from the snipe if you know your waders well enough.
So a lifer and 2 reserve firsts, a bonus indeed!!!!!!!
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Which bird is ideal for keeping cakes in? I asked. The answer: a Bun-tin.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/135715507@N06
Day spent here today, mainly for the pink-footed goose extravaganza; not many seen in flight whilst walking from the train station (path from there still out of use, btw), but many thousands (10-12k?) on the reserve, frequently spooked and put up whilst blethering away to each other constantly, a lovely spectacle.
Best of the rest:
1 chiffchaff 4 Cetti's warbler heard, two on around a smallish pond (one on each side) as you enter from the farmland, and two on reed-bed walk. c15 tree sparrow 1 kingfisher 10+ stock dove 1 water rail heard (reed-bed walk) 900+ teal 30+ gadwall c25 shoveler 130+ wigeon 3 pintail 4 tufted duck 6 shelduck 12 whooper swan 4 mute swan 900+ lapwing c30 ruff (including a stunning partially leucistic bird with a snow-white head and neck) 22 snipe 5 grey heron 1 great black-backed gull 1 kestrel 3+ buzzard 5 marsh harrier
Farmland from station to reserve:
3+ tree sparrow 7 linnet 1 reed bunting 12 corn bunting 7 meadow pipit 1 pied wagtail 1 grey wagtail 60+ skylark 3 jay 30+ rook 1 stock dove
Saturday 7th mid to late morning visit in blustery showers. Sightings included :-
Large flocks of pink-footed geese, with skeins of multiple thousands flying over Southport at sunset
Approx 20 whooper swans now present. Numbers of wigeon and teal noticeably increased since my visit a few weeks previously, also small numbers of shelduck and shoveller.
Ruff in increased numbers.
Little grebe foraging on the pond at Ron Barker hide.
Tree sparrow, goldfinch, chaffinch and greenfinch in good numbers at Janet Kear, also single coal tit, smaller numbers of blue and great tit, 2 x grey wagtail and a brief flash of kingfisher over the pond. More brown rats on here than I've seen in a long time as well.
Kestrel being mobbed by crows over Kingfisher hide, also one hunting over the farmland adjacent to Reedbed Walk. Buzzard on the fence posts from United Utilities hide.
Lunchtime / early afternoon visit in cloudy and breezy conditions before the rain. Lots of raptors recorded there of late - I picked up 2 marsh harriers and 4 buzzards (best viewed from Ron Barker or UU hides) and a kestrel over farmland from the Reedbed Walk.
Lots of greylag on the main mere and big build ups of pink-footed geese on the outer waters. Also good numbers of snipe, lapwing, ruff - largely out on the fields at present.
Goldfinch, tree sparrow, chaffinch and greenfinch competing with the mallards and rats on Janet Kear feeding station.
Wigeon, teal and pintail scattered amongst the mallard and greylag on the main mere - teal most abundant at present.
My first hack around the new reed bed walk was rewarded with a flyover male cuckoo and charming Little Grebes. Reed buntings were still very vocal as were reed and sedge warblers.
The United Utilities hide affording views across Woodend Marsh gave up a pair of common terns, many black tailed godwits, avocets, swifts, house martins, etc. and was capped by a pair of SPOONBILL flying in. After an initial dive bomb welcome from the local lapwings the pair were allowed to settle. A Barn Owl was spotted hunting in the fields on the far side of the marsh. 11am, blustery and drizzle are not the BO's usual modus operandi and gives away hungry young mouths to feed. Numerous Tree Sparrows from the Kingfisher hide were the last tick on a 52 species day.
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Full morning visit in what started as utterly miserable, wet and windy conditions and eventually dried out a bit. Highlights :-
Cuckoo seen from Reedbed Walk, also much swift and house martin activity alongside the usual reed and sedge warbler and reed buntings.
Very busy at the Janet Kear feeding station with family broods of tree sparrow, blue tit, great tit, goldfinch, chaffinch, moorhen and mallard. Also a single great spotted woodpecker and greenfinch.
Across the reserve lots of young mallard, coot, moorhen and shelduck. Little egret seen from Kingfisher Hide along with good views of singing sedge warbler. Avocet, oystercatcher and black-tailed godwit. Two great black-backed gulls lurking ominously on the main water body.
Just off the reserve 4 x corn bunting and a hunting barn owl in the surrounding fields
Day spent here today; absolutely belted it down on the walk to the reserve, and I was a hair-breadth away from giving it up as a bad job. Very glad I didn't. Highlights:
Station to reserve:
1 whitethroat 1 reed bunting 3 yellowhammer 12+ corn bunting 10+ house martin 3 pied wagtail 2 yellow wagtail c10 skylark 4 rook 20+ stock dove 13 shelduck (in someone's garden) c15 lapwing 1 oystercatcher 1 buzzard
Main reserve:
Goldcrest, chiffchaff, willow warbler, blackcap, whitethroat, reed warbler, sedge warbler, Cetti's warbler, tree sparrow (lots), linnet, reed bunting (lots), swallow, house martin, skylark, song thrush, etc. 10+ swift 1 cuckoo Moorhen and coot with broods. 1 teal 7 gadwall 3 shoveler 5 wigeon 1 pintail (female with damaged wing) c15 tufted duck 5 pochard 79+ shelduck 3 mute swan 4+ little grebe 2 great crested grebe (one on nest) 1 ringed plover 30+ lapwing 1 little stint (first time I've seen one in spring plumage) 4 redshank 25 black-tailed godwit 14 avocet 5 oystercatcher (including one chick) 2 little egret 4 grey heron 1 little gull 300+ black-headed gull
Cracking day, with the new reedbed walk from the Harrier Hide an excellent addition (especially if you're partial to reed buntings; never seen so many outside a winter flock); spectacular views of the female cuckoo sat on a fence directly in front of the hide from here; very much the highlight. Fantastic day though it's been, I am, though, extremely glad to be out of my wet socks.
Worth noting, too, that if you're coming here by train, the path immediately from the station has been closed, so you now have to walk around the village to the level crossing; adds around 10-15 minutes to the walk.
-- Edited by Shannon Llewellyn on Monday 29th of May 2017 11:02:36 PM
Main reserve - scattering of avocets including a pair evidently preparing for a new brood. 2 male wigeon and 2 male shoveller mixed amongst the usual shelduck and mallard summer waterfowl.
Reedbed walk - far more productive. Large numbers of singing reed warbler and smaller numbers of sedge warbler and whitethroat. Little egret, grey heron, kestrel hunting over the adjacent farmland. Wren with fledged young and best sighting a female cuckoo patrolling the reedbeds directly across from the Harrier Hide, to the displeasure of the reed warblers.
Also a beautiful banded demoiselle near the United Utilities hide.
I was working in the Southport area and stopped off at Martin Mere on the way back. Nothing special to add - no rarities on the reserve and no passage migrants. I was hoping to take some photographs of Warblers and any butterflies although it did not plan out that well. Main targets were Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Whitethroat and Grasshopper Warbler- the latter reeling on the newly opened Reed bed Walk. 2-3 Brimstone butterflies and some Chaser dragonflies were nice to see. Neither was in the mood to pose though.
Martin Mere have opened up a new walk opposite the Harrier Hide - it can be accessed from here and loops through the reed bed and onto United Utilities Hide - I think you can get to the two viewing screens but that does not appear encouraged. It adds a much better perspective to the reserve and enables those who spend too much time in cafes (me) to burn a few of those calories off. Makes me wonder though any reason for so many bushes in the reed bed? I am surprised a lot of it has not been cleared out to manage the place.
-- Edited by Sarfraz Hayat on Wednesday 10th of May 2017 10:57:00 PM