Lots of avocet chicks
We have had lots of avocets hatch this week and now have 20 brood on the site, some are infront of the Gordon Taylor hide (which is very dry at the moment, hopefully we’ll see some rain on Wednesday) Photo Ian Henderson/WWT. There are 102 black-tailed godwits infront of the ron barker hide today. Pochard ducklings infront of the ron barker hide and the harrier hide, shoveler ducklings on the mere.
Most of the black-headed gull chicks have now hatched and they are huge, the lesser black-backed gulls can be seen predating them often (2-4 an hour). The oystercatcher chicks in the grounds are a good size now and are 9 days old.
We have finished the May BBS and have rough figures for 2020 breeding season, the highlights include increases in black-headed gulls (715 pairs this year) lapwing (36 pairs this year), kingfisher (2 nests on site this year), whitethroat (24 singing males 2020), cetti’s (16 singing males 2020), sedge (61 singing males 2020) and reed warbler (40 singing males in 2020).Unfortunately we have seen decreases in dunnock, chaffinch and greenfinch which follows national trends. New species breeding on the site include little owl and treecreeper
The grounds, the nature reserve and all hides and paths are closed at WWT Martin Mere, following government guidance on Covid-19. A small team of essential staff is working on site looking after the animals and completing essential tasks on the reserve. Please do not attempt to visit the site as you will be putting our staff and yourself at risk.
