Swans leave and avocets return at WWT Martin Mere
At WWT Martin Mere as the Whooper Swans have started their long migration back to Iceland for the summer and the first of the summer wading birds have arrived.
Martin Mere has seen record numbers of Whooper swans over the winter with 2400 birds spending time on the reserve. In the last week numbers have started to decline as the swans begin the migration back to Iceland to breed over the summer, heralding the start of Spring.
Centre Manager, Andy Wooldridge, said: “In the past few years Martin Mere has been the most successful breeding site for Avocet in the North West of England and there are already 67 Avocets on the reserve so we are very hopeful for good numbers of chicks this year. This is a lovely time to year to see such physical changes in the landscape at Martin Mere.”
Visitors see big changes at Martin Mere over March and April: Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Redshank, Ringed Plover and Avocet will all start to nest. The first of the classic summer migrants have already arrived including Sand Martin, Northern Wheatear, Chiffchaff, White Wagtail and Little Ringed Plover.
