Latest Sightings
The common tern eggs have started hatching! We have twenty pairs nesting on the mere, each with 2-4 eggs so there should be plenty in the coming weeks. You can watch the adults flying past Ron Barker, fishing along the waterways and carrying back smaller fish for their young.
You can see the adorable avocet chicks on woodend marsh. There have been 5 seen regularly.
A water rail chick was spotted from Ron Barker hide last Tuesday.
A hobby has been regularly seen at Ron Barker this week, feeding on the dragonflies.
There were three little ringed plover on Woodend marsh last week.
A redshank was spotted on Vinsion’s pool yesterday.
A wood sandpiper was seen on Vinsion's yesterday.
A ruff in full breeding plumage was seen on Vincents this morning.
The male marsh harrier has been busy hunting food for his mates (and potentially chicks) on the fields in front of Ron Barker.
There were brilliant views of a hobby hunting on the sluice in front of Ron Barker hide yesterday.
There are now regularly 5 cattle egrets hanging around the cows, on their backs or feeding in their wake.
A juvenile yellow wagtail was seen in the fields today, suggesting they may have bred on site.
There have been numerous reports of kingfishers seen from Harrier Hide, 3 at once last week!
Cuckoos have been heard on the reedbed along with the cacophony of warblers: reed, sedge, cetti’s, and whitethroat, and blackcap and chiffchaff on the woodland trail.
A bullfinch was seen on the feeders in the grounds.
A greater spotted woodpecker was heard near the Bird Observatory yesterday.
It’s a great time for insects at Martin Mere. Watch the black tailed skimmers with their lovely light blue abdomens on the reedbed walk. The emporer dragonflies have been coming out too. The sluice is full of banded demoiselles dancing around each other. You can see brimstone and speckled wood on the woodland trail.
North West Bird Watching Festival
Join us on the 14 & 15 October for the annual North West Bird Watching Festival. Celebrate the thousands of migratory wild birds that visit the centre over the autumn and winter period. With well-known guest speakers such as Ben Osborne, Lucy Lapwing, and David Goulson, plenty of exhibitors, and a weekend full of birding activities, this is an event not to be missed.
