Red Kite again
Another fresh day but at least the rain held off until late on. Great to see Red Kite back on the reserve for a few hours. It seems there are a couple of birds in the area at the moment.
A good raptor day with Peregrine, 5 Marsh Harrier, 8 Buzzard, Kestrel and 2 Sparrowhawk.
Wildfowl counts included 350+ Whooper Swan, 500+Pink-footed Geese, 200+ Greylag, 80 Canada, 1200+ Teal, 700 Wigeon, 460 Shelduck, 320+ Pintail, 42 Tufted, 30 Pochard, 5 Gadwall and 3 Shoveler.
Waders; 100 Ruff, 120+ Lapwing, 66 Avocet, 40+ Black-tailed Godwit, 44 Oystercatcher, Redshank and 6+ Snipe.
The recently arrived Great-crested Grebe now has a mate and they were displaying from the Harrier Hide. Bittern booming again yesterday.
At least 1000 Black-headed Gull, 10 LBB Gull, 2 GBB Gull and a few Herring Gull.
Other sightings included 4+ Corn Bunting, 2 Little Egret, 2 Bullfinch, singing Skylarks, Fieldfare, Redwing and Red-legged Partridge.
If you are visiting Martin Mere for the first time and would like to know what is around and the best areas to see specific species do call in at the in focus shop, next to the Discovery Hide which over looks the Mere. It should be possible to see over 60 species in a day without too much difficulty.
