Latest Sightings - Treecreepers and whoopers
The cows have been moved to the fields in front of Ron Barker, with Bruce the bull staring longingly over the fence. Four cattle egrets perch on the cows’ backs and yellow wagtails flit about them, feeding off the insects which the cows disturb.
The juvenile purple heron appears to be sticking around for a few days on its passage from the arctic to Sub-saharan Africa. It was seen twice from Ron Barker on Thursday, briefly flying up from the reeds at Sunley’s and Lord’s Mere. The purple heron’s presence seems to be indicative that we’re doing something right for the Ardeidae (the family herons and egrets belong to) as you can barely walk 10 feet without spooking a grey heron. Hopefully bitterns, also in this family, follow their lead and will be heard booming from the reedbed in breeding season.
The pink footed geese continue to stream into the reserve, connecting our small site to Iceland, Greenland and all the places in between, their form and call unmistakable as they fly overhead. I like to think the pink feet feel relieved a as they circle Martin Mere, knowing there is a safe place to roost and plenty of potatoes to refuel their weary flight muscles. We counted over 4000 pink feet Wednesday, but the settled weather yesterday meant there was a big flush of them after being held back on previous days so 4000 may even be an underestimate! Our whooper swan numbers are also increasing, with nine on the mere today. We're very lucky to have this bird on site as it's on the amber list due to habitat degradation and hunting.
Wading between the pink footed geese as they fuel up are ruff, snipe, red shank, greenshank and black tailed godwits. 61 snipe, 3 black-tailed godwits and 2 ruff were counted from Gordon Taylor and two green sands and a juvenile ruff from Ron Barker.
Mushroom season is well underway, and the wetland provides plenty of damp spaces for them to grow. Bracket fungi can be seen growing from the trees at Janet Kear, and field waxcaps and boletes are sprouting on the paths around the reedbed.
In the grounds a treecreeper has been reported near the canoe safari and the cheeky mallards continue to butt in on the captive birds’ mealtimes.
On Wednesday four barn owls and a kingfisher were seen hunting the dusk over Sunley’s reeds and the sluice. As we enter October, the public will also be able to experience the reserve during this captivating time of day when we open the reserve for our late goose events.
North West Bird Watching Festival 2022
Join us at this year’s Bird Watching Festival and watch up to 30,000 pink-footed geese return to the roost. We’ll have guest speakers, exhibitors, photography workshops and guided reserve walks for a full day out from dawn till dusk. Find out more.
Photo: Greylag and pink footed geese flying in at dawn
