News
October road closures
Please note that Sunderland City Council is carrying out essential road maintenance on the A1231 near our site in October. On Sundays 7, 14 and 28 October, there will be full road closures from 6am-noon, with diversions in place to ensure people can stil
Building an Ark
Definitely the most rainfall I've ever seen here. Hopefully post a few shots tomorrow. The Boat House Sluice which runs through the reserve (between the United Utilities and Ron Barker Hides) has over flown and is flooding the reserve fields, ideal for fe
Out on the reserve today
Crane - 5 (from friends hide this morning) Marsh harrier - 3 Peregrine falcon - 1
Wildlife sightings for 25th September 2012
61 Shoveler - main lake 2 Snipe - wader scrape, grazing marsh 50+ House Martin - feeding over reserve 10+ Chiffchaff - wildside, sheltered lagoon, south route Additional sightings from yesterday: 1 Common Tern - juvenile flew up river 3 Hobby - 1 juvenil
Todays Sightings
WADER LAKE/AM/HIGH TIDE Mallard - 24 Moorhen - 2 Black Headed Gull - 20 Heron - 2 Redshank - 23 Lapwing - 1 Shoveler - 2 Mute Swan - 1 Teal - 18 SALINE LAGOON/AM Mallard - 7 OTHER BIRDS/AM Cormorant (River) - 2 HAWTHORN WOOD/AM Pheasa
Pectoral Sandpiper still present
The Holden Tower Pectoral Sandpiper 1 Feeding on the left hand floods Ruff 2 Spotted Redshank 1 Redshank 50 Bar-tailed Godwit 1 Black-tailed Godwit 123 Curlew 1 Teal 250 The Zeiss Hide Knot 2 Black-tailed Godwit 172 Snipe 1 Wigeon 30 Pintail 10 Teal 300 T
A bird that loves the wet weather
Below is some video footage Andy Bunting from in focus took yesterday of common snipe feeding. This bird loves wet weather and we have seen a big influx of over 140 birds. They can be viewed on the edge of the mere delving for worms and grubs. They have
Y fflamingos Cymru
Today I took a trip over the Second Severn Crossing and journeyed into deepest, darkest (and windiest!) Carmarthenshire to visit WWT National Wetland Centre in Llanelli, for a chat with the folks there about their flock of Caribbean flamingos. As part of
In the rain.
A wet day, so always good to see a few hardy souls having a look. There has been quite an influx of interesting birds in the UK in the past week with north american waders from the west to Yellow-browed Warbler et al from the east, so there is always the
Latest Sightings
This mornings flight saw 71 Barnacle Geese fly inland, but we expect with the low pressure and the easterly wind over the next few days a lot more Barnacle Geese to arrive here. Whooper Pond Tufted Duck 20 Canada Goose 100 Greylag Goose 1 Gadwall 1 Mute S
Out on the reserve today
Spoonbill - 1 (main lagoon) Along with good numbers of wildfowl, wigeon, teal, shoveler and gadwall. Black-tailed godwit (Friends hide)
Animal Magic success at Martin Mere
Almost 5000 people enjoyed the Animal Magic event at the weekend, enjoying the sunshine on Saturday. There were skunks, meerkats, grehounds, reptiles, sheep, donkeys, birds of prey, alpacas, bees and plenty of activities happening for everyone to enjoy
Todays Sightings
Wader Lake/am/High Tide Mallard - 24 Moorhen - 2 Black Headed Gull - 20 Heron - 3 Redshank - 23 Lapwing - 1 Shoveler - 2 Mute Swan - 1 Teal - 18 Saline Lagoon - 7 Mallard - 7 Other Birds Comorant - River - 2 Hawthorn Wood Pheasant - 10 Great Tit - 4 Blue
Overnight deluge and feeding bonanza
Overnight flooding The heavy rain all day yesterday and overnight to this morning has created a lot of field flooding. The birds have all left the scrapes this morning to take advantage of the newly flooded areas to feed. There is little to no exposed mud
Wildlife sightings for 24th September 2012
15 Wigeon - main lake, sheltered lagoon 1 Little Grebe juvenile - still present, in Peacock Tower channel 7 Snipe - scrape, marsh 1 Reed Warbler - near wader scrape hide 6 Blackcap - site count 13 Chiffchaff - site count Also several dozen Swallow