Rumour has it!!!

With autumn supposedly over we would normally use this quiet time to sit back and reflect, upon this year’s migrants. However with such mild weather around, there is still the possibility of new birds into the reserve such as the American Green-winged Teal, so it’s well worth while to come down and visit us at Martin Mere.

This mild Autumn never achieved the same kind of Pinkfoot numbers as last year, with a high count of 20,000 compared to the record breaking 37,000 geese seen in October last year. As autumn ends many Pinkies leave Martin Mere (which they use like a motorway service station) and head south to Norfolk, where they will over winter. Around 3000-4000 birds stay with us over winter and become a familiar sight in the surrounding villages as they fly high overhead in their very impressive noisy skeens . Whooper Swans are also a continued delight with numbers similar to last year, and rumours of plenty more to come down from Scotland. Are we in for another record breaking year????

Although the majority of Martin Mere’s classic migrants have arrived, we are also keeping our eyes open for a few yet to arrive, such as the diving ducks and  also perhaps the Waxwing. Last year we had a Waxwing winter where thousands of these gorgeous birds came across from Europe looking for food. With around 300 hitting the East coast already this year, we hope this may be a signal for more to arrive shortly at the Mere.

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