Despite some of the wet and windy weather we've had over the past few days, we have still had some fantastic bird sightings on the reserve this bank holiday weekend!
The Mere has seen a lovely variety of waders, including one Redshank, two Greenshank, four Common Sandpiper, four Black-tailed Godwit, five Green Sandpiper, 11 Snipe, 13 Ruff, and an impressive 415+ Lapwing. Some of our hirundines were also seen flitting across the Mere before they migrate out of the UK to Africa, returning again next Spring. This included eight House Martins, and around 30 Sand Martins and 160 Swallows. One Little Egret was also spotted, along with 5 Yellow Wagtails.
Over at the Ron Barker hide, our visitors were delighted by the sights of many of our wonderful birds of prey! This included one female Sparrowhawk, one Hobby, two Kestrel, and four Marsh Harriers. 33 Cattle Egret and 26 Yellow Wagtails were also seen still enjoying the company of our herd of English Longhorn Cattle. Other highlights included another two Green Sandpiper and two Greenshank.
From the Harrier Hide, several species of Grebes and Geese were showing well. This included 11 Great Crested Grebes and 21 Little Grebes across the weekend, and 1230 Greylag Geese were spotted on the Saturday alone! Many of our fabulous duck species were also seen, including one Pochard, six Tufted Ducks, nine Teal, 21 Shoveler, and 35 Gadwall.
Ploverfield, which can be viewed either from the gate by Rees hide or from the United Utilities hide, also saw many birds of prey including one Sparrowhawk, one Buzzard, and two Kestrel. A charm of 70 Goldfinch were also enjoyed by our visitors, as well as 7 Pink-footed Geese.
Picture of a Little Grebe.
