Birding Group Visit to WWT Martin Mere
The last birding group day of the year was a visit to WWT Martin Mere which turned out to be a little disappointing but at least featured a glimpse of the Tawny Owl that sometimes roosts near the Kingfisher Hide.
One of the most remarkable things, this year, at Martin MEre is the lack of Swans during the day. We spoke to the chap in the “In Focus” shop and he told us that he thought that the knocking down of the Swanlink Hide had upset the swans. When they had been fed from there they had a nice gentle slope to emerge from the water onto. Now that they are fed in front of the Discovery Hide, they have to negotiate a lot of rocks and he reckoned that they did not like this. Hopefully they will get used to it but for the moment the numbers of Swans during the daytime is very small by Martin Mere standards. There were some Pink-footed Geese as well but the whole winter spectacle seems to be much reduced this year
On our way up to the Ron Barker hide we had a look for the Tawny Owl that sometimes roosts in the tree across the path from the Kingfisher Hide but none of us could find it. We continued on to the Ron Barker hide from where we got a couple of Marsh Harriers and a couple of Buzzards. There were a number of Whooper Swans out on one of the fields but, search as we might, we could not find the Green-winged Teal that was supposed to be there.
On our way back down to the Raines Observatory, I ran into another group of birders and they had managed to spot the Tawny Owl, exactly where we were looking before but perhaps not so high up in the tree.
Down at Raines there was a nice group of Ruff close to the window and the usual range of ducks on the water. There was a single female Goldeneye.
Janet Keir was quiet and United Utitilties was quiet as well.
So, a bit disappointing in some respects, and importantly no new “year tick”. On the other hand, a Tawny Owl is always nice – even when quite hidden in the ivy !
We repaired to the Hesketh Arms in Rufford for lunch and a planning session for the next term. So, that is it for the birding group for the year !
Bird Sightings : WWT Martin Mere : Environs
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Rock Dove | 2 |
| Common Wood Pigeon | 4 |
| Tawny Owl | 1 |
| Great Tit | 3 |
| Eurasian Blue Tit | 4 |
| Eurasian Wren | 2 |
| Goldcrest | 2 |
| European Robin | 2 |
| Eurasian Blackbird | 4 |
| Eurasian Tree Sparrow | 6 |
Bird Sightings : WWT Martin Mere : Ron Barker Hide
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Mute Swan | 1 |
| Whooper Swan | 150 |
| Eurasian Wigeon | 200 |
| Common Teal | 200 |
| Eurasian Marsh Harrier | 2 |
| Common Buzzard | 2 |
| Black-headed Gull | 80 |
| Common Kestrel | 1 |
Bird Sightings : WWT Martin Mere : Rains Observatory
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Greylag Goose | 8 |
| Common Shelduck | 30 |
| Eurasian Wigeon | 40 |
| Mallard | 40 |
| Northern Pintail | 10 |
| Common Pochard | 10 |
| Common Goldeneye | 1 |
| Great Cormorant | 30 |
| Common Moorhen | 15 |
| Common Coot | 20 |
| Northern Lapwing | 20 |
| Ruff | 18 |
Bird Sightings : WWT Martin Mere : United Utilities Hide
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Pink-footed Goose | 4 |
| Greylag Goose | 50 |
| Canada Goose | 24 |
| Whooper Swan | 50 |
| Grey Heron | 1 |
| Little Egret | 1 |
| Common Buzzard | 2 |
| Ruff | 4 |
Bird Sightings : WWT Martin Mere : Harrier Hide
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Common Shelduck | 10 |
| Gadwall | 2 |
| Common Teal | 40 |
| Tufted Duck | 12 |
| Common Moorhen | 10 |
| Common Coot | 20 |
| Black-headed Gull | 30 |
| Lesser Black-backed Gull | 1 |