Latest sightings
Latest Sightings
Its been a busy week on the reserve for birds! As spring is in full swing, warbler activity has been on the up, with reports of grasshopper warblers, reed warblers, and sedge warblers, alongside the cetti's warblers in the reedbed. Blackcaps have also bee
19 April 2024
Latest Sightings
Despite the stormy weather, spring is in full swing on the reserve, with blooms of wildflowers such as green alkanet, herb robert, lesser celadine, red campion, colts foot and cowslip lining the paths around the nature trail. Lots of birds have also began
15 April 2024
Latest Sightings
This week we undertook our latest monthly Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) count. Here are our results:Wigeon 17Gadwall 9Teal 47Mallard 483Pintail 10Shoveler 135Pochard 11Tufted Duck 13Mute Swan 2Whooper Swan 5Shelduck 105Greylag Goose 67Canada Goose 57Pink-foo
8 April 2024
Latest Sightings
Blue tits, great tits, and goldfinches are still showing well at Janet Kear hide, and lots of willow warblers have been heard singing all along the nature trail. 6 Med gulls can be seen from Discovery hide, and so can some tufted ducks and lots of nesting
4 April 2024
Latest Sightings
At Ron Barker hide this week marsh harriers have been seen displaying, cattle egrets, 4 great white egrets, large flocks of black-tailed godwits, and 2 green sandpipers were also seen. A water rail has been showing nicely from Mere View hide this past wee
2 April 2024
Latest Sightings
Over 100 black-tailed godwits are currently calling the mere their home, they can often be seen feeding in front of Discovery hide. 40 curlew have been spotted in woodend marsh, along with around 20 avocets. Also, a water rail was seen from Mere View hide
29 March 2024
Latest Sightings
Our lovely barn owls have been showing particularly well from the Ron Barker and Mere View hides this week; also at Ron Barker hide 22 cattle egrets have been seen at one time. Also, plenty of robins can be seen very up close along the nature trail toward
25 March 2024
Latest Sightings
Spring is definately here this week with the sun shining and Chiffchaffs singing everywhere on the site. Along the nature trail Primroses are in flower, Dogs mercury, Lesser celendines and wild daffodils. There are several Scarlet elf cup fungi on the wa
18 March 2024
Latest Sightings
The arrival of summer visitors continues with 3 ringed plover sighted on the mere late last week. Avocet numbers are continuing to rise with 21 on the mere with single figures of avocet seen at both Ron Barker and on Woodend Marsh.Merlin and peregrine hav
11 March 2024
Latest Sightings
Our avocet numbers have been increasing with 16 of them now on woodend marsh. Some snipe were seen on the mere this week, along with 3 green sandpipers.Ron Barker has been busy this week, with our barn owl, kingfisher, and a few of out marsh harrier makin
7 March 2024
Latest Sightings
14 avocets have been seen on the back of the mere this week, as well as 700 black-tailed godwits (some starting to show their breeding plumage!) visible from Discovery Hide.Ron Barker hide has been showing kingfishers fairly regularly this week, along wit
5 March 2024
Latest sightings
Migration is well under way, the number of whoopers on the mere is decreasing daily. But the number of black-tailed godwits are increasing with 700 on the mere Marsh harriers are seen across the site Kingfishers are seen daily from the Ron Barker hide dow
1 March 2024
Latest Sightings
It feels like spring is in the air over the last few days with the bright and sunny weather after all the rain last week.This is also being reflected on site with many of the birds starting to pair up. The most obvious is the pairs of shelduck which can b
26 February 2024
Latest Sightings
11 avocets have been spotted on the mere this week, along with our usual whooper swans, shelduck, wigeon, and pintails. A few brambling have been seen at Janet Kear hide lately, and some greater spotted woodpeckers are often found using our bird feeders t
22 February 2024
Latest Sightings
In the past week quite a few waders have been spotted on the mere, including 5 avocets, some redshank, a curlew, and several ruffs and black-tailed godwits, some of which are starting to develop their summer plumage!There have been some notable sightings
20 February 2024