Latest sightings
Nuthatch
Bird of the day must go to the Nuthatch (a rare bird on site) which was on the bird table near the toilets past the Raines Hide this morning, hopefully it will stick around. A few new birds appeared today with the change in weather, at least 2 Greenshank
12 September 2015
Whinchat and Wheatear
As high pressure builds and calm and sunny weather settles in, some of us can be found complaining that this type of weather is unlikely to turn up many migrant birds! Things can be unpredictable certainly when it comes to individual rare birds although i
8 September 2015
Record Count
It is the time of year when wildfowl begin to flock. This is true whether they be wild or feral birds. At Martin Mere we always get a build up of feral Greylag and Canada Geese and today a count of the latter reached 570 beating the previous count of Cana
6 September 2015
First Returning Geese
Highlight of the day was the first arrival of Pink-footed Geese this autumn, a flock of 10 birds arrived at 10.30 this morning but later 18 were counted. Interestingly one of the juveniles among the flock still appears to have down on its head and neck! O
5 September 2015
Bird News
Some bird movements noted today, with numbers of Pied Wagtails passing through the reserve, along with a few Grey Wagtails. About 250 Cormorants were noted from the reserve, although very distantly - they would have been flying closer to the Ribble Estaua
4 September 2015
Sightings
At least 250 Greylag Geese and over 80 Canada Geese on the Mere this morning, as well as 300 + Lapwings and a dozen Ruff. At least 1 Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk, and a few Common Buzzards were also seen from the Mere, but no reports received from people bi
3 September 2015
Latest Sightings
Plenty of activity around the reserve at the moment. This morning it appeared that we had received a small fall of warblers with 3 different Garden Warblers seen (two near the Kingfisher Hide and one opposite the Sewage Works on the Reed Bed Walk). The Re
2 September 2015
Spotted Redshank
An excellent day on site with over 70 species being seen, including a few new sightings, the highlight was a juvenile Spotted Redshank which spent all day on site and was still present this evening. Also a flock of 8 Ringed Plover with 2 Dunlin were brief
31 August 2015
Sightings
More signs of wader migration this morning with 2 juvenile Greenshank briefly on the Mere before heading towards Ron Barker Hide, Greenshank also heard this evening. Other waders on site today include the juvenile Wood Sandpiper still present this evening
30 August 2015
Merlin
A female/imm Merlin was seen from UU Hide mid afternoon and is the first record of the autumn/winter of this smart little falcon. At least 1 juvenile Peregrine was active flushing the Lapwing flock and making them 'bunch up' high in the sky - this is a su
28 August 2015
'Continental' Cormorant
A 'Continental' or Sinensis Cormorant spent sometime on the Mere this morning. Checking photographs from the weekend the same bird was on the new 'in focus' island. This sub species is very much over looked at Martin Mere, in fact I can't remember when th
26 August 2015
New Scrape
New Scrape viewed from the UU Hide over looking the Mere Exciting times ahead as two new scrapes are added to the reserve. Those with long memories will know that the areas involved were once open areas of water but o
25 August 2015
Raptor fest
Another six species of raptor today with 4+ Marsh Harrier, 2 Peregrine (imm female and ad female), 8+ Common Buzzard, 2+ Kestrel, 2 Sparrowhawk and Hobby with the later attempting to grab Goldfinches feeding around the Mere. In recent days both Merlin a
24 August 2015
Wood Sandpiper
A Wood Sandpiper was present this evening, being flighty and calling frequently and after no sightings being reported all day - this is likely to be a new bird, there are a currently a lot of Wood Sandpipers passing through the country. Other sightings to
23 August 2015
Wood Sandpiper
The Wood Sandpiper is still from Ron Barker hide today, also at least 1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Common Sandpiper, 7 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Dunlin and 15+ Ruff. A Little Egret was again from Harrier Hide and later on the Mere. The Kingfishers continue to show w
22 August 2015