The birding group outing on the 4th December was to WWT Martin Mere. We wanted to set off early because we were due to have a planning meeting after our morning bird watching. Accordingly we set off about 8:15am instead of our usual 9am. Google maps was showing that the M6 was at a standstill so we took an unorthodox route of carrying along the M56 to the A553 over the Mersey then up past Widnes onto the M57 and then through Maghull. And Aughton before arriving at Burscough, then the reserve. I think it probably saved us half an hour on the motorway and there was a lot of fog so I think we made the right choice.
In any case we got to the reserve a goof half hour before anyone else and after a quick cup of tea we headed straight down to the Ron Barker Hide where we found several Song Thrushes in a small area – perhaps an overnight roost. From the hide the vista was one of Wigeon and Teal in big numbers and not a lot else. A bit of patience saw a nice flyby of a Sparrowhawk hunting above the gutter, a female Kestrel perched right in front of the hide and a Buzzard roosting, back to us, in a tree in the distance. There were a small number of Whooper Swans.
Down at the Hale Hide things were much busier than usual with alrge numbers og Greylag, Teal and Wigeon all taking advantage – with a few Ruff and some Stock Doves and Pintails – of the potato pile that is there in the winter. Usually things are very quiet here but today t was busy.
Moving on to Raines Observatory there was the usual large numbers of all sorts of ducks and some waders. Ruff numbers are impressive and very close views are always available at this hide. There were some Whooper Swans there but the feeling is that most have not arrived yet. There were a few Black-tailed Godwits but mainly it was Shelduck, Pintail, Wigeon, Teal, Mallards etc.
Moving down to the Discovery Hide it was pretty much the same view from a slightly different angle but the light was lovely and we got very close views – as usual from here. We did add Tufted Duck and Pochard here though.
The morning was getting on and it was nearly lunch time so we headed off for the United Utilities hide, stopping off briefly at a very quiet Jean Kerr hide. They seem to have got rid of the bird table they used to have there which was reliable for Reed Buntings – perhaps rats are a problem there.
As soon as we arrived at the UU hide we got a year tick Barn Owl that we watched in the distance as it quartered among the fields in front of the old barns near the public foot path. It must have been showing for about 20 minutes so most of the rest of the birding group, who had eventually caught up with us, also got passable views. We also got a Marsh Harrier and a Kestrel and a few Pink-Foots.
We were pretty made up with Barn Owl as we are nearing the point where my year list is not likely to grow much and is pretty poor really this year.
Among the other birds round and about were Tree Sparrow, Long-tailed Tits and Greenfinch. It was now nearly 2pm so we all went down to the café (we didn’t have time to get to a pub as we usually do for planning meetings and we worked out a schedule for next year.
Bird Sightings Martin Mere Ron Barker Hide
| Whooper Swan | 6 |
| Eurasian Wigeon | 200 |
| Common Teal | 200 |
| Common Pheasant | 1 |
| Great Cormorant | 2 |
| Eurasian Sparrowhawk | 1 |
| Common Buzzard | 1 |
| Common Moorhen | 8 |
| Northern Lapwing | 100 |
| Common Kestrel | 1 |
| Song Thrush | 3 |
Bird Sightings Martin Mere Hale Hide
| Greylag Goose | 80 |
| Whooper Swan | 30 |
| Common Shelduck | 10 |
| Eurasian Wigeon | 200 |
| Northern Pintail | 30 |
| Common Teal | 200 |
| Common Moorhen | 4 |
| Ruff | 6 |
| Stock Dove | 6 |
| Eurasian Magpie | 2 |
| Eurasian Jackdaw | 20 |
| Pied Wagtail | 1 |
Bird Sightings Martin Mere Raines Observatory
| Pink-footed Goose | 1 |
| Greylag Goose | 50 |
| Whooper Swan | 30 |
| Common Shelduck | 40 |
| Eurasian Wigeon | 200 |
| Mallard | 60 |
| Northern Pintail | 50 |
| Common Teal | 60 |
| Great Cormorant | 12 |
| Common Moorhen | 20 |
| Common Coot | 20 |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 4 |
| Rock Dove | 40 |
| Common Wood Pigeon | 10 |
Bird Sightings Martin Mere Discovery Hide
| Mute Swan | 20 |
| Common Pochard | 14 |
| Tufted Duck | 20 |
| Ruff | 30 |
Bird Sightings Martin Mere Environs
| Common Wood Pigeon | 20 |
| Great Tit | 6 |
| Eurasian Blue Tit | 12 |
| Long-tailed Tit | 8 |
| Eurasian Wren | 1 |
| European Robin | 3 |
| Eurasian Blackbird | 6 |
| Dunnock | 1 |
| Common Chaffinch | 6 |
| European Greenfinch | 6 |
| European Goldfinch | 10 |
| Eurasian Tree Sparrow | 8 |
Bird Sightings Martin Mere United Utilities Hide
| Pink-footed Goose | 3 |
| Eurasian Marsh Harrier | 1 |
| Barn Owl | 1 |
| Common Kestrel | 1 |