A 4am start & following a coffee refuel at Lancaster Services I was on site at Marton Mere for 8am. The weather was damp and foggy with little or now wind.
Pink Footed Geese could be heard overhead and lots of Fieldfare chacked from nearby fields. A possible Water Rail flew into cover and a Sparrowhawk shot over the reed bed. Soon the fog lifted, albeit briefly and 2 Long Eared Owls showed reasonably well in the roost area.
Partially obscured LEO:
A Cetti's Warbler was heard at least once in the area around the viewing platform but despite searching the reed edges for over an hour from this location I could not find Bittern.
Lots of widfowl on the mere, particularly Teal and including Gadwall, Shoveler and Wigeon. Water Rail was heard several times.
15 Goldfinces showed well in the grounds of the Holiday Park.
Martin Mere Wildfowl & Wetlands Centre- Burscough
Visibility was hampered by the weather conditions but nonetheless Martin Mere was very busy, so much so that the main car park was full and I had to park in the overflow.
The sheer numbers of ducks, geese and swans on the various scrapes do indeed provide quite a spectacle. There was an estiated 1,200 Whooper Swans on the reserve together with c8,000 Pink Feet. Most of the latter stay off the reserve during the day but a few could be seen in one of the far away fields. Other wildfowl of interest included a hybrid Ruddy Shelduck/Mallard.
Lots of Pintail. Some come very close to the hide:
Whooper Swans were present in large numbers:
No sign however of the 4 reported Bewick Swans.
Over 1,000 Shelduck were present:
The fog restricted the opportunity for birds of prey and consequently only 1 Sparrowhawk and 1 Buzzard were seen. I could not locate any Barn Owls despite frequent scanning of the rough field edges on the perimeter of the mere. Waders included 17 Ruff and at least 50 Black Tailed Godwit.
Other birds of note included 2 Tree Sparrow.
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