Day Out to WWT Martin Mere 2nd March 2012

After our visit to Sizergh Castle we headed to Martin Mere hoping to add a good number of species to our two-day list. On our drive there we saw a Kestrel hovering overhead which was a nice addition to our list. At Martin Mere we didn’t go to all the hides but we visited what we consider to be the main ones starting, as often, at the Ron Barker hide where there were around three hundred Pink-footed Geese in the far field to the right of the hide. There were also large numbers of Starlings on the ground mixed in with the other birds. By far the dominant bird numerically, however, were the Wigeon; there must have been at least five hundred. There were also a few Whooper Swans and lots of Shelduck and Teal but the highlight was the newly arrived flock of Avocets. At first when we looked there seemed to be only around a dozen but soon enough more flew in and we managed to count around 120. As we went around the site, however, there seemed to be more of them dispersed here and there. There was also a flock of around 150 Lapwing, a small flock of Dunlin; a few Black-tailed Godwit; a Ruff and a couple of RInged Plovers.

Walking back down the avenue we dropped in at the Hale Hide where there were a couple of hundred Whooper Swans all feeding on whatever the root vegetables they pile up for them to supplement their diet. Down at the Raines Observatory there were similar numbers of Whooper Swans; about three hundred Shelduck; around a hundred Pintail and a similar number of Teal.

Down at the Janet Keir hide it was relatively quiet but there were a few Reed Buntings and Green and Gold Finches and the usual high numbers of Chaffinch.

At the United Utilities Hide there were around 400 Whooper Swans; around 100 Greylag Geese; perhaps three hundred Wigeon. A couple of Buzzards and a Kestrel were spotted but no Marsh Harrier which was unusual. There were around 50 Oystercatchers and a hundred Avocets, lots of Lapwing and around three hundred Starling.

We headed back up the avenue to the Swanlink Hide just in time for the 3pm feeding. For some reason the only birds eating were the Whooper Swans which was most peculiar. Normally the smaller birds – Mallards, Teal, Pigeons etc. – are seen (excuse the pun) ducking and diving around the feet of the squabbling Swans but all the time we were there the feed was left for the sole use of the Swans. Why this should be the case is inexplicable. It is always hard to estimate the number of Swans seen here but there must have been at least five hundred Whooper Swans and even one solitary Black Swan. There were around four hundred Black-headed Gulls which I believe is only a small part of the resident roost of them recently. Wigeon and Mallard were on the water in the hundreds with smaller numbers of Pintail. About a hundred Greylag Geese were there and around a hundred Shelduck.

By half past three we felt it was time to get ourselves organized to go home but we felt we had had a fairly full days birding already and over the two-day period that saw us got to RSPB Leighton Moss, Sizergh Castle and WWT Martin Mere we had seen sixty-six species including three “life list ticks” and our year list now stood at eighty-nine – so a very satisfactory couple of days.

Bird Sightings : Ron Barker Hide

Species	Count
Whooper Swan	20
Pink-footed Goose	300
Shelduck	100
Wigeon	500
Teal	100
Shoveler	1
Buzzard	1
Moorhen	1
Coot	20
Avocet	120
Ringed Plover	2
Lapwing	150
Dunlin	12
Ruff	1
Black-tailed Godwit	3
Starling	80

Bird Sightings : Hale Hide

Species	Count
Whooper Swan	200
Greylag Goose	4
Shelduck	8
Teal	12
Mallard	6
Moorhen	1

Bird Sightings : Raines Observatory

Species	Count
Whooper Swan	200
Shelduck	300
Teal	100
Pintail	100
Pochard	10
Tufted Duck	8
Oystercatcher	2
Rock Dove / Feral Pigeon	40

Bird Sightings : Janet Keir Hide

Species	Count
Mallard	4
Moorhen	1
Woodpigeon	3
Blue Tit	1
Chaffinch	8
Greenfinch	6
Goldfinch	4
Reed Bunting	2

Bird Sightings : United Utilities Hide

Species	Count
Whooper Swan	400
Pink-footed Goose	2
Greylag Goose	100
Canada Goose	2
Shelduck	60
Wigeon	300
Cormorant	2
Buzzard	2
Kestrel	1
Oystercatcher	50
Avocet	100
Lapwing	200
Magpie	1
Starling	300

Bird Sightings : Swanlink Hide

Species	Count
Whooper Swan	500
Black Swan	1
Greylag Goose	100
Shelduck	100
Wigeon	300
Mallard	200
Pintail	20
Buzzard	1
Moorhen	10
Coot	50
Black-headed Gull	400

Bird Sightings : Martin Mere Environs

Species	Count
Pheasant	2
Moorhen	1
Woodpigeon	40
Collared Dove	1
Long-tailed Tit	2
Robin	1
Tree Sparrow	8
Goldfinch	4

Day Out to WWT Martin Mere 2nd March 2012