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Wilderness and family-friendliness combine at Martin Mere Wetland Centre. In the winter there are wild ducks, geese and swans in their thousands offering spectacular aerial displays, but year round the centre is home to resident water birds, otters and beavers. There's an imaginative playground for young adventurers as well as attractions such as the (seasonal) duckling nursery.
Follow us on Twitter or find out what the Centre Manager, Andy Wooldridge, has been up to by clicking here to access his diary and ask him questions
Five things you must do on your visit
Adults
• Hand feed the birds and look out for the baby goslings and ducklings as they start springing up as you walk through the waterfowl gardens
• Visit the beaver enclosure to be amazed by a beavers natural habitat
• Go along to the otter and flamingo talks
• Look out over the reserve to catch a glimpse of birds of prey and summer migrants such as lapwings, avocets, oystercatchers etc.
• Stroll along the nature trail taking in the sights, sounds and smells of wildflowers, insects and birds; or wander around the new reedbed walk, accessible from the coach car park
Families
• Hand feed the birds and look out for the baby goslings and ducklings as they start springing up
• Let the kids run wild on the adventure play area
• Go to the Otter talk and feed to see the baby otters
• Listen to the flamingo talk and find out why the flamingos are pink
• Have a go at the family activities such as pond dipping, den building, crafts
But don’t just take our word for it........
Trip Advisor testimonial
“Jaw Dropping”: Turrysagh, Scotland
30 Oct 2009
Encouraged by the BBC Autumn and Spring Watch programmes this reserve lives up to its billing. There is something for all the family and provides a brilliant facility for serious bird watchers. We visited at the end of October and the sight of all the pink-footed geese arriving in huge numbers at dusk takes your breath away. You cant help smiling - absolutely wonderful. I thoroughly recommend that you visit here. Join the WWT as well!
Contact details
WWT Martin Mere
Fish Lane
Burscough
Ormskirk L40 0TA
t) 01704 891220
e) info.martinmere@wwt.org.uk
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Opened in 2004, the Harrier Hide looks out onto the reedbeds on the south side of the reserve. Watch Marsh Harriers and Hobbies as they fly across the land.
In the Centre you will find a gift shop, coffee shop and key information points. The exhibition and conference space is also used for indoor events at the Centre.
This is the focus of Pond dipping activities with schools and during holidays. Catch pond creatures and take them into Ramsar?s laboratory to study them under a microscope.
From May to August you can enjoy the cute and cuddly sight of the downy ducklings in the nursery. Specialist tours will guide you through the outdoor nursery and an opportunity to see hatching waterfowl.
Climb the wooden frames, slide down the slides or speed across the swan flyways. Everything your child needs for a fun adventure.
Covering 150 hectares, the Mere is home to thousands of wintering swans and geese as well as a range of summer wading birds that included Black-winged Stilts and Avocets in 2006.
Martin Mere?s Waterfowl Garden is home to over 100 species of rare and endangered ducks, geese, swans and flamingos. Inquisitive Hawaiian Geese will nibble grain from the hand whilst you tour the world?s wetlands through the carefully planned pathways.
After a 500 year absence from Lancashire, four European beavers, two males and two females, have taken up residence at Martin Mere. Beavers, the world?s second largest rodent, are one of nature?s engineers excavating canals and building dams and lodges of branch and earth. The display at Martin Mere will be the only attraction in the North West where visitors can watch beavers in their natural habitat. Entirely vegetarian, the beavers will be fed everyday on root vegetables, leaves and fruit allowing visitors the opportunity to see the creatures.
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