Yellowhammers and Stoat
Even though Yellowhammers are present in the local area they are rarely seen on the reserve, so 3 birds in the Windmill field seen from Ron Barker Hide were very noteworthy. Grey Wagtails can be seen and heard most days on the reserve at the moment along with the odd Pied Wagtails. A Chiffchaff was singing near the In Focus shop this afternoon and a Goldcrest was calling nearby.
Three Little Stints were on show today along with a single Curlew Sandpiper and Dunlin. At least 25 Ruff and 500 Lapwing were seen today with small numbers of Snipe and 4 Black tailed Godwit. Up to a 1000 Pink footed Geese were estimated by one observer this morning in the area.
An adult Peregrine was again seen around the reserve as well as up to 6 Common Buzzard, 3+ Sparrowhawk, 4+ Kestrel and 2+ Marsh Harrier. The recent Scottish wing tagged Marsh Harrier was one of 17 chicks ringed at a site in Tayside this June and is the first to be seen at Martin Mere.
Stoats are seen almost daily on site but can be difficult to get a good view as they tend to be seen briefly before disappearing into cover, one spent a few minutes looking for prey at one of the feeding stations by the In Focus shop this morning. Several Migrant Hawkers can still be seen patrolling around the site, one getting stuck for a few minutes inside the shop yesterday. Some more shop visitors today were these 3 Mallards.
