Latest Sightings
The past few days have been exciting for Martin Mere’s birdlife, with a very autumnal feel in the air…
Sunday saw the site’s first decent Whooper Swan arrival of the autumn, with over 100 birds counted throughout the day. An early-morning survey the following day produced 114 – most of which were at Ron Barker, with some on the Mere – along with 2,463 Pink-footed Geese. Another exciting result from this dawn survey was the discovery of a third Glossy Ibis –all three of which dropped onto the Mere.
On Woodend Marsh, from the Gordon Taylor hide, 35+ Cattle Egret have been showing well with our English Longhorn cattle, along with the occasional pair of Great Egret. Four Barn Owl were seen near Woodend from the United Utilities hide on Sunday, and it continues to be a reliable site for raptors such as Buzzard, Kestrel and Marsh Harrier.
On the Mere, there’s been a definite increase in ducks such as Wigeon, Teal and Pintail - 66 Pintail were counted on Friday, along with 37 Wigeon, 165 Teal and four female Pochard. 19 Gadwall, 93 Coot and 1120 Mallard were also recorded.
North West Bird Watching Festival 18 & 19 October
Join us for a weekend of celebrating the arrival of thousands of migratory species with a line-up of guest speakers, exhibitors, wildlife activities and more. Members go free, or non-members can prebook online to save 10%.
Photograph of a Whooper Swan.
