Sightings - Martin Mere
1322 Whooper Swan
Some excellent weather recently and some mega sunsets too. The biggest count of Whooper Swan for the winter so far with 1322 birds roosting on the reserve. Reasonable numbers of Pink-footed Geese with c.7600 also logged.It's looking like another good wint
4 December 2019
Latest Sightings
A cold and frosty few days, excellent conditions for seeing Martin Mere at its best. Over 800 Whooper Swan and 7000+ Pink-footed Geese roosting on the reserve with some good numbers coming in during the day to feed on potatoes on Top Mere.Good for raptors
2 December 2019
Male Hen Harrier and Goosanders
A stunning male Hen Harrier was the days stand out highlight, seen quartering the outer fields for about 40 mins before heading out towards Southport, hopefully more sightings in the coming days. Other raptors included 8+ Buzzard, Kestrel and Peregrine.A
29 November 2019
1000+ Whooper Swan
Back with the sightings after a computer issue and a run down of the news from the past few days. Goose and swan counts over the weekend produced 1088 Whooper Swan and 7600 Pink-footed Geese. Both species are spending a lot of time off the reserve but can
26 November 2019
Hen Harrier and Bearded Reedlings
Starting with some belated news from the weekend with at least 8 Bearded Reedling seen on the Reed Bed Walk. Not an easy species to catch up with but time spent looking and listening around the Reed Bed can pay dividends. The first Hen Harrier of the aut
20 November 2019
The Weekend Onwards
A big thanks to all the visitors who came to the North West Birdwatching Festival this weekend and to all the volunteers, exhibitors and speakers. A brief round up of sightings to the end of Monday. Over 800 Whooper swan roosting on the reserve. Locally t
18 November 2019
Sightings round-up
Large numbers of wildfowl, particularly Pink-footed Geese (20,000+) and Whooper Swans (c.1,000) on the reserve at the moment means this weekend's North West Birdwatching Festival should get off to a great start. The picture above was taken at around 4.30
15 November 2019
Whooper Swans
A good start to the day watching 600+ Whooper Swan fly onto the reserve. A roost count last week put the numbers on 800 but it's likely we have had more new arrivals in the last 7 days. Great to see so many Teal and Wigeon hanging around the Mere today An
12 November 2019
Sunday's Sightings +
Blue skies and a frosty start this morning. Plenty of action to be had with the reserved packed with wildfowl. At least 3000 Teal present, increasing numbers of Wigeon, Pintail and Shelduck. Smaller numbers of Shoveler, Gadwall, Pochard and Tufted Duck pr
10 November 2019
Great Weather for Waders and Wildfowl!
Damp today but plenty of action of late. It's been an excellent autumn for Snipe on the reserve. Currently we thing there are at least 150 on site but it could be much higher. Around 30 birds were next to the in focus shop this morning (picture below).An
7 November 2019
Latest Sightings
We are in full peak autumn mode at the moment with the Mere packed with birds. Recent waste potato deliveries on Top Mere has produced some excellent viewing of Pink-footed Geese and Whooper Swan. All of the duck species are well on the way to moulting ou
5 November 2019
Saturday Sightings +
Very mild, light wind and a little rain. Recent waste potato deliveries on Top Mere have brought in lots of Pink-footed Geese. Keep an eye on these flocks as they are likely to contain rarer geese as we head into November. The October coordinated goose co
2 November 2019
Thursday update
It's still mostly about numbers here at the moment, with 400+ Whooper Swans coming in to roost tonight, and 15,000+ Pink-footed Geese in the immediate area. Amongst the Pink-footed Geese on the reserve were a Barnacle Goose (yesterday) and a Pale-bellied
31 October 2019
Sunday's Sightings +
An early start for us until our body clocks reset! Blue skies and a chill in the wind to start Sunday. Further influxes of Whooper Swan and Pink-footed Geese as cold weather starts to bite in Iceland moving birds into the UK. Over 16,000 Pink-footed Geese
27 October 2019
Pinktastic !!
A few fabulous arrivals of Pink-footed Geese again throughout today following on from a count of 21,000 last night that came in to roost. A few sightings of Merlin today may well involve 2 birds, also at least 2 Peregrine (ad male and juv female) also 3 M
24 October 2019