Latest Sightings
This week at Martin Mere we have seen some old favourites! The feeders at Janet-Kear are bustling with Brambling, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Long-tailed Tit, and Reed Bunting, as well as the usual collection of finches and tits. On the Reedbed Walk, Cetti's Warbler can be heard calling and Reed Bunting, Long-tailed Tit, and Marsh Harrier having been sighted throughout. One Common Sandpiper and one Mediterranean Gull were sighed on the Mere, the gull being on the tern raft. Today, we saw 4 Little Egrets flying over the Mere and some lovely hares out at United Utilities, when making our way out for the goose and swan count. The results from the count show we have 716 Pink-footed Geese and 457 Whooper Swans on the reserve in total! On this past Tuesday, we were able to carry out a swan catch, in which our Reserve Team were successful in catching 43 Whooper Swans. Many of the individuals were fitted with rings and colour rings, which will give us the opportunity to easily identify returning swans and track their migration patterns. We also fitted 10 of the female Whooper Swans with GPS collars, so you may see some new collars out on the Mere! The collars will give us a very detailed map of the flight path and length of their migration back to Iceland.
