Day Out to Martin Mere WWT 25th October 2011

Day Out to Martin Mere WWT 25th October 2011

It being a Tuesday, it would normally be a birding group day but as it happened everyone else was busy – probably because it was half-term – so we were looking at just the three of us – Anne, Mike and myself – going to Wigan Flashes which was the scheduled visit for this week. Since we didn’t have to fir in with anyone else for the day we decided to make more of a day of it so we decided to go to Martin Mere where more of the Pink-footed Geese had arrived and the first big batch of Whooper Swans had already arrived.

Since the weather forecast was good we decided that we would do this instead of going to Wigan. Being half term the place was quite busy with grandparents and children but we headed off – as usual – to the hides where they are less busy. We started off at Raines Observatory which was actually very busy with around 70 Whooper Swans and around a hundred Greylag Geese. There were also plenty of Mallard, Wigeon, Lapwing and Coot with a few Shelduck. We also saw the obligatory Buzzard on a fencepost and there was a Cormorant and a Pheasant as well. We were just starting to get into closer examination of the flocks to see if there were any unusual species lurking amongst them when a tractor came along and dumped a load of potatoes on the strip of land next to the lake – a nice supper for the birds but it did send them all up in the air and when they came back down they were much further away, nearer to the Swanlink Hide so we decided to move on.

At the Hale hide there were a number of Teal and the trees surrounding were more interesting as Greenfinches and Long-tailed Tits darted from tree to tree. The story was similar at the Kingfisher Hide where Tree Sparrows, Greenfinch and Blue Tits were at the feeders but there was only a Moorhen on the water and – again – a Buzzard on a post ; probably the same post and the same Buzzard as before.

At the Ron Barker hide things picked up and we had very good views of around three hundred Pink-footed Geese and two hundred Whooper Swans. A single Godwit was amongst the Wigeon but the best part was the appearance of two Buzzards and a Marsh Harrier who caused general panic amongst the birds and we got good views of the raptors as they wheeled and swooped over the reeds and field.

We returned to the visitor centre for a cup of tea before – unusually for us – walking through the “regions” part of the site and heading for the Harrier Hide. There was a bit more variety there than there sometimes is and we saw numbers of Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Shelduck and quite a few Black-headed Gulls.

At the United Utilities Hide there was a large flock of around 300 Lapwing with a smaller flock of Starlings mixed in with them. There were around 100 Whooper Swans and a single Pinkie in the field looking a bit lonely. There were numbers of Teal, a few Shovelers and a couple of Cormorants.

At the Janet Keir Hide the highlights were a Great-Spotted Woodpecker and around twenty Greenfinch. A few Chaffinch and Goldfinch were there, Blue and Great Tits and a single female Reed Bunting. On the ground picking up the spillage as usual were Pheasant, Mallard and Moorhen. After a while the Wood pigeons arrived and started to dominate the feeders as they so often do so we headed off to the Swanlink Hide overlooking the Mere.

By the time we got to the Mere it was nearly feeding time so it was very busy and most of the seats were taken. We managed to find a couple of windows however. There were large numbers of Greylag Geese, Whooper Swans, Mallard, Shelduck and Teal with smaller numbers of Coot. Of more interest were half a dozen Pintails – both male and female – with the males looking very attractive with their plumage still looking good. In the far distance was a Cormorant and just in front of that at the waters edge I found a bird that I looked at for a long time trying to id it. After a bit another appeared and after looking through the books I concluded that it might well be a Ruff – a bird that has hitherto been difficult for me to find. As it happens, a WWT employee was walking through the hide looking at Swan tag numbers so I asked him what he thought and he confirmed for me that they were indeed Ruff – A first for me !

 Bird Sightings : Raines Observatory

 Bird Sightings : Hale Hide

 Bird Sightings : Kingfisher Hide

 Bird Sightings : Ron Barker Hide

 Bird Sightings : Harrier Hide

Bird Sightings : United Utilities Hide

Bird Sightings : Janet Keir Hide

Bird Sightings : Swanlink Hide