News

Out on the reserve today
Crane - 3 (Lady Fen) Pectoral sandpiper - at least 1 (accessable via the summer walk) Dunlin - 1 Ringed plover

Latest Sightings
Today say the arrival of the first Barnacle Geese of this Autumn/Winter with three groups (23,50,18) all coming in from the east. Elsewhere; Whooper Pond Gadwall 3 Tufted Duck 20 Mute Swan 5 Canada Goose 200 Greylag Goose 2 Otter Folly Pond Teal 200 Shove

Wildlife sightings for 23rd September 2012
11 Wigeon - scrape and sheltered lagoon 27 Pochard - main lake 77 Teal - scrape 9 Little Egret - circled site then flew W 1 Hobby 2 Peregrine - perched on hospital 41 Lapwing - main lake 239 Swallow - mostly flew S 150 House Martin - feeding over site 1 m

Autumnal changes
Apart from the cooler weather during the evenings and mornings, the birds are certainly well aware of the seasons. Sand martins have been seen in great numbers this autumn passage, with 20 plus at a time checking out the nesting tunnels on the sand marti

Sightings and guided walk details for rare waders
Guided walk to search for Buff-breasted and Pectoral Sandpiper Meet in/around the Holden Tower at 1300hrs. It is a half a mile walk there and back, uneven ground and no guarantee of seeing either but worth a try. They showed very well together yesterday

More Whooper Swans
At least 18 Whooper Swan were present today and large numbers of Pink-footed Geese c8000+ in and out of the reserve all day with 1000 around the Mere most of the day. The Little Stint is still present viewable from Ron Barker Hide, also Kingfisher continu

Today's sightings
Pectoral sandpiper - 2 Curlew sandpiper - 2 Dunlin - 5 Ruff - 2 Snipe - 3 Ringed plover -10 Black-tailed godwit - 12 Water rail - 1(Lyle hide) Marsh harrier - 3 Buzzard - 2 Hobby - 1 Kingfisher - 2

Latest Sighting
Whooper Pond Tufted Duck 14 Gadwall 1 Teal 1 Little Grebe 1 Canada & Greylag Goose Folly Pond Whooper Swan 6 (1 later flew to Flood Ground) Teal 120 Shoveler 20 Lapwing 10 Common Gull 2 Teal Pond Gadwall 2 Avenue Tower Pink-footed Goose 800+ Mute Swan

Wildlife sightings for 22nd September 2012
76 Shoveler - main lake 7 Snipe - grazing marsh, wader scrape, main lake 1 Wheatear - grazing marsh 7 Cetti's Warbler - main lake, reservoir lagoon, wildside, reedbed, sheltered lagoon 7 Blackcap - wildside, south route, sheltered lagoon 1 Willow Warbler

Plenty of waders
Holden Tower Meet here at 12.00 for a walk to search for the Buff Breasted Sandpiper. Seen well yesterday along with a Common Scotor and Common Seal. Zeiss Hide Teal 445 Black Tailed Godwit 200 Redshank 26 Ruff 6 Green Sandpiper 1 Snipe 9 in far left hand

Todays Sightings
Wader Lake/am/High Tide Curlew - 2 Grey Heron - 5 Shoveler - 4 Teal - 34 Lapwing - 49 Redshank - 62 Snipe - 2 Lesser Black Backed Gull - 1 Black Headed Gull - 36 Saline Lagoon Curlew - 1 Grey Heron - 1 Lapwing - 6 Other Birds Chaffinch - Wader Lake Path -

Bird News
12 Whooper Swans on the Mere today after a further 6 birds flew in mid-morning. Pink-footed Geese were very active today, with groups ranging in size from 3 or 4 birds, up to over 2,000 coming and going (and therefore making it very difficult to guage jus

Rare birds arrive before diggers finish creating new Somerset nature reserve
White-rumped Sandpiper (Tim Taylor) A rare white-rumped sandpiper is the latest unexpected arrival on the Steart peninsula, Somerset. It is currently recovering on a flooded field, despite being surrounded by one of t

Buff-breasted Sandpiper still present
The Buff-breasted Sandpiper showed well today on the edge of the Dumbles. This bird can only be seen on a guided walk. The next will be at midday on Saturday. Meet at the Holden Tower. Dumbles / Estuary BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER - present from 1130-1230 at

Explore the night sky at WWT Martin Mere
In partnership with Liverpool Astronomical Society, WWT Martin Mere is offering visitors a way to explore the night sky at an astronomy evening on Saturday 6 October. The event will start at 7.30pm and will include special talks entitled: 'Our place in sp