Birding Group Visit to WWT Martin Mere 19th November 2013

Birding Group Visit to WWT Martin Mere 19th November 2013

With the weather forecast indicating rain and possible snow, we were lucky that our birding group day landed just before the start of a spell of cold and wet weather. In fact, after a little bit of defrosting of the car, we had a fine day with no rain at all and often clear blue skies. When we got to WWT Martin Mere reserve it was obvious that they had had a slight fall of snow there overnight but it was clear for us – if cold. At this time of year we were hoping to have good views of Whooper Swans and Pink-footed Geese and perhaps Marsh Harriers and any other raptors attracted to the site as the numbers of birds increases.

In fact the Martin Mere web site estimated that now there are approximately the following at the reserve at the moment.2600 Teal, 1750 Wigeon, 80 Ruff, with waders also including Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit and Common Snipe. There are also estimates of 800 Lapwing. As far as raptors are concerned they logged three Peregrines, 2 Common Buzzards, Marsh Harrier, Sparrowhawk and Kestrel as well as two Ravens “roving around”. Well we did not do as good as that but we did see a lot including the three Peregrines all perched on posts to the left of the Ron Barker Hide where we stared off. Also from there we saw one of the Buzzards – we saw the other one later !

Also at Ron Barker were a few Whooper Swans and a very few Pink-footed Geese as well as very many more Greylags. There were large numbers of Wigeon and smaller numbers of Teal as well.

We moved on down to the Hale Hide where the pile of vegetation put out for the birds had attracted large numbers of Whoopers, Greylags, Teal and Wigeon as well as a few Pintail. On the grass were large numbers of Lapwing. It was from here that we saw the second Buzzard though the whole thing is confusing because you are often getting different views of the same birds, This was clear with the three Peregrines that we first saw at Ron Barker but kept on seeing as we moved around the various hides. They did not move at all but they always looked different from each of the different angles we had – very confusing and especially since the light was so strong and the sun so low that each angle made them appear different as well.

At the Raines Observatory things were very busy with fair numbers of Whooper Swans and Pink-footed Geese. There were lots of Shelduck, Pintail, Mallard, Pochard and even small numbers of Shoveler and Goldeneye. Plenty of Lapwing, Black-headed Gulls and Starlings were there and we got really nice views of some of the Ruffs from this hide. The views were so good that it was easy to see the considerable difference in size between the Ruffs and the Reeves, something I had never really noticed before.

While we were there there were a couple of staff recording the swan rings and one of them gave us an impromptu, and very interesting, talk on the radio tagging of some of the Whooper Swans that come to Martin Mere in the winter including where they nested in Iceland, what ages they were and how many young they had each year and how many survived to land at Martin Mere. He told us about one of their Swans that first left the reserve last spring and went to Stranraer to feed up and then moved on to South Uist. From there it apparently tried to get to Iceland but after fifty miles it had to land on the sea as it had run into heavy rain and this had meant that it could not see to navigate (they need to see the stars since there are no obvious marker points on the open sea) so had to return to the Hebrides. It appears that it waited a while before trying again and this time succeeding. He gave us lots of other interesting information and there is some interesting display material – maps and satellite tracking diagrams etc – up on the walls that is worth a read – fascinating.

As we left Raines Observatory we saw a small flock of the resident Tree Sparrows and around the site there were a few Robins and Blackbirds and Pheasants.

After lunch we headed down to the United Utilities hide still hoping to see a Marsh Harrier. In short we got a good reverse view of the Peregrines again but no Harriers. From here there were around five hundred Lapwing but the numbers of Teal and Wigeon were smaller than we expected. The group of Cormorants you normally see here had moved over to the main mere.

The Harrier hide was all the usual suspects and still no Marsh Harrier. At the Janet Keir hide we did get a quick view of a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a few finches but no Woodcock! Apparently it is around at the moment, though.

We finished off at the Swanlink hide a little before the feeding time and there were around 300 Whooper Swans and a huge number of Shelduck and Mallards. On the grass were lots of Wigeon, Lapwing and Starling and again we tried counting the Ruff – every time we tried we seemed to find more and when it came time for the wheelbarrow to come out and the food to be scattered it was the usual fantastic melee of squabbling swans, geese and ducks and that wonderful sound of honking Whooper Swans and the general hubbub of noise from the smaller birds all frantically trying to get the best share of what was on offer that they could get. A fitting end to another good day out at Martin Mere – no Marsh Harriers though !!

Bird Sightings : Martin Mere : Ron Barker Hide

Bird Sightings : Martin Mere : Hale Hide

Bird Sightings : Martin Mere : Raines Observatory

Bird Sightings : Martin Mere : Environs

Bird Sightings : Martin Mere : United Utilites Hide

Bird Sightings : Martin Mere : Harrier Hide Hide

Bird Sightings : Martin Mere : Janet Keir Hide

Bird Sightings : Martin Mere : Swanlink Hide