News
Latest Sightings
It has been a busy week at Martin Mere with a couple of rare sightings and the arrival of summer migrants!One of the reserve team picked up a pair of bean geese from Ron Barker hide during our weekly dawn count last week. The birds stuck around until abou
12 February 2024
Latest Sightings
There have been quite a few sightings at Janet Kear hide this week, including reed bunting, kingfisher, and our first siskin of the year. A couple of kingfishers have also been spotted at Ron Barker hide, as well as at Hale hide, where a lesser redpoll wa
5 February 2024
Latest Sightings
The barn owl is still showing well this week, and a few great white egrets have also been spotted from Ron Barker hide. We still have hundreds of whooper swans attending our feeds every day, usually accompanied by the red-breasted goose.Along with the reg
29 January 2024
Latest Sightings
As the storms and windy weather have continued, the birds have again been sheltering from the extreme weather. This has also led to an increase in barn owl sightings across site, as it hunts during daylight to avoid the worst of the wind.With the dropping
26 January 2024
Latest Sightings
The current windy weather has seen the majority of the birds on site hunkering down to shelter from the wind. Discovery hide is proving good for views of the black-tailed godwit and ruff on the apron, picking any grain out of the cracks in the hard standi
22 January 2024
Latest Sightings
The mere looks absolutely stunning this winter, with frost and snow covering the site! The beautiful views from Ron Barker hide have been improved by a hen harrier sighting, along with the barn owl that can usually be seen from 3pm. 19 cattle egrets have
18 January 2024
Latest Sightings
The temperature has dropped and the mere has looked stunning with the frost and ice on the water. 968 Whooper swans and 4360 Pink-footed geese roosting on site with most of the swans on the mere. 1 Bewick's swan roosted on the Mere over the weekend.Toda
15 January 2024
Latest Sightings
It has been a busy few days with a lot of comings and goings on site. The red breasted goose is still present and can be seen from the hides on the mere. The mere has also been a good place to see waders with black-tailed godwit, ruff and redshank reporte
12 January 2024
Latest Sightings
A redshank was seen on the mere this week, along with some black-tailed godwits and ruffs. The barn owl has been showing particularly well all over the site, including Ron Barker hide (where a peregrine was seen on Saturday) and woodend marsh (where 10 ca
8 January 2024
Latest Sightings
Sightings going into the New Year have certainly started with a bang! Visitors on New Years Day were treated to an excellent showing of a barn owl from Kingfisher Hide. There were excellent views of the owl perching on a fence post and in flight.There are
2 January 2024
Latest Sightings
It has been a good few days in terms of sightings for the reed loving birds we get at Martin Mere. Bittern again has been sighted from Ron Barker with multiple reports. Water rail can also be regularly heard calling within the reedbed and are best heard f
21 December 2023
Latest Sightings
Here are the results of our latest WeBS survey, completed today:Wigeon - 787Gadwall - 28Teal - 680Mallard - 631Pintail - 380Shoveler - 17Pochard - 14Tufted Duck - 18Mute Swan - 4Whooper Swan - 778Shelduck - 219Greylag Goose - 447Canada Goose - 2Pink-foote
18 December 2023
Latest Sightings
The red-breasted goose has been seen right in front of Discovery Hide, especially during the afternoon swan feed! We've also had reports of a water rail being seen at Ron Barker Hide, and the barn owl has been sighted in the reedbed rather frequently.If y
14 December 2023
Latest Sightings
Its been a very wild weekend, with the stormy weather bringing in an unusual bird! Since Saturday, a red-breasted goose has been spotted frequently accompanying the greylag geese on Plover Field and at the back of the mere. United Utilities hide has been
11 December 2023
Latest Sightings
The freezing temperatures have coincided with a busy week for the mere! In terms of waders, the black tailed godwits have been showing well from Discovery hide, and 18 ruff have been counted. For winter wildfowl, 850 whooper swans were seen on the mere at
8 December 2023