Autumn highlights at Martin Mere
Autumn is one of our favourite periods at Martin Mere. We see everything around us change to breathtaking colours and are joined by migratory species from the likes of Iceland.
Drawn to Water: Quentin Blake at WWT
We’ve partnered with well-known artist Quentin Blake to bring you all of our best autumn highlights. Experience incredible views, see wildlife up close, and create unforgettable memories. Here are just some of the things we don’t want you to miss:
Migratory stars
We have seen the arrival of the pink-footed geese, with the first flocks arriving around the 9 September. Each year they make the long journey from Iceland with their families to spend the winter here. They’ll join us for a few weeks before continuing their journey south.
They bring the mere to life and create a breathtaking spectacle each morning and evening as they leave and return to the roost. To celebrate, we have a series of events such as our early morning Dawn Flight event, and late night openings.
The whooper swans will start to join us as we enter November, as they arrive back from their summer in lands afar. Listen out for their honk honk noises and take a look on to our mere to see how many you can spot.
Fungi
Mushrooms come in all shapes and sizes. Spotted tops, pointed caps, giant domes and miniature clusters. One of our favourite fungi to find at Martin Mere, fly agaric, looks like it’s straight out of a fairytale. Head down to the Raines Observatory for the chance to see the shaggy ink cap, or take a closer look at our trees for some birch bracket. How many different fungi can you spot?
Autumn sights, sounds, and colours
The fresh autumn breeze and mesmerising colours of reds, oranges, yellows and golds will brighten even the dampest of days. Look out for blackberries, hawthorns and sloes in the hedgerows and the birds that they attract.
Spend some time simply stopping and listening and enjoy being immersed in nature within our reedbed walk. The species in the reedbed can be very elusive and are often heard and not seen, so you need to take your time and simply listen whilst out there.
Drawn to Water: Quentin Blake at WWT
From now until late December, pick up your free autumn illustrated guide full of Quentin Blake illustrations and set off on your wetland adventure. Find out more via our website.
