2024 best reserve highlights
2024 was a fantastic year for breeding success at WWT Martin Mere. Across the reserve, we witnessed an abundance of new life and site records, including the first-ever recorded breeding of bitterns.
Take a listen to our Reserve Manager, Louise Greenwood, to find out about some of our best highlights. Or, scroll down to read more about it.
Bitterns
We first heard the males booming in May— a call used to attract females that can be heard up to three miles away and resembles the sound of blowing the top an open bottle.
A few months later, we started to see the females hunting for food and we surveyed the reedbed and recorded two nests. We carefully monitored these nests and recorded seven fledged chicks.
Waders
Waders also had a successful year. Avocets established 27 nests. Thanks to our new fox-proof fencing on Woodend Marsh, we were able to stop any ground predators and better protect the eggs and this resulted in 17 chicks fledging, the best success we have seen.
Lapwings also saw 27 pairs, fledging nearly two chicks per pair.
Kingfishers
We saw three breeding pairs of kingfishers - another site record for us. One pair nested on the canoe safari to the right of the main entrance, treating visitors to beautiful up-close diving displays in front of the boats. The other two pairs nested near Ron Barker hide, producing two broods this year with 12 chicks fledged between them.
Marsh Harriers
Lastly, we recorded four marsh harrier nests in 2024, fledging a total of nine chicks between them. We are starting to see more and more activity from Marsh Harriers each year after our first successful breeding pair was recorded in 2020.
How we achieve this
Managing the habitat is a vital part of ensuring each species can thrive in our wetlands. A mosaic of habitat means that we can attract a range of birds. The bitterns like the different ages of reed and expansive reedbed filled with fish to feed their young. The avocets like bare islands so the eggs can be well camouflaged in the stone or mud. The lapwings like short grass around 10cm tall.
We complete lots of work throughout the winter to prepare for the upcoming breeding seasons, including using our English longhorn cattle to graze the different areas to get the grass the right height. Or, removing trees from the reedbed and cutting the reeds to create different ages on the reedbed.
And even more importantly, we can do all of this work thanks to our supporters, members, visitors, and volunteers. We can’t wait to see what 2025 brings!
