Gull chicks thrive
The Black-headed Gull colony at WWT Martin Mere was visited by our researcher this week in order to gain an idea of the total numbers breeding and how the breeding season is faring this year. We have monitored the black-headed gulls in the past but this is the first year we have done it on this scale - 210 nests found on the main mere alone with 100 chicks (50 of them ringed so far). If you take into account the entire site, we estimate there are currently 250 – 300 chicks on the reserve.
During the monitoring, the researchers took the opportunity to fit some of the larger chicks with specially designed rings in order to be able to follow them when they fledge. By giving the chicks an ‘identity tag’ this allows people to report sightings of these birds and this helps us to gain a better understanding of where these birds migrate to, where they may eventually breed and also will give us some good information on how long they live to. From previous reports we know that Black-headed Gulls can live up to 30 years old!
We are particularly interested in knowing whether any of the chicks raised at WWT Martin Mere, will eventually be recruited into the breeding population 
here. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the total numbers of breeding pairs here and also to see whether any of the 2016 chicks may appear within the colony in future years. But who knows where they may end up?
If you come along to Martin Mere at the moment you will have a very good chance of spotting some of these chicks from the new Discovery hide.
In other news at the centre, the Great Crested Grebes are still sat on 3 eggs and the centre had a record breaking half term with well over 11,000 visitors coming to see our egg to duckling experience – but don’t worry if you missed it, the duckling nursery will be open every weekend until 17 July.
Martin Mere is open every day (except Christmas Day) from 9.30am to 6pm during summer months (and until 4.30pm during the winter) and parking is free of charge. Situated off the A59, it is signposted from the M61, M58 and M6. The Centre is also accessible via the Southport to Manchester and the Liverpool to Preston line by train from Burscough Rail Stations. Visit the web site http://www.wwt.org.uk/martinmere/ to find out what’s on all year round at Martin Mere and the other eight WWT Wetland Centres.
