Latest sightings

Hen Harrier

Hen Harrier

Another excellent day on site with thousands of birds to be seen, including a female Hen Harrier which has been seen on and off for over a week now. Other raptors today included 3 Marsh Harrier, Merli [...]

13 November 2011

White fronted Geese

White fronted Geese

An arrival of 8 European White fronted Geese was notable today with 2 groups, (a family party of 2 adults with 2 juveniles and another group of 4 adults) with upto 10,000 Pink footed Geese and 900 Who [...]

12 November 2011

Raptor activity

Raptor activity

Pretty murky conditions on the reserve for the past couple of days but plenty of activity nonetheless. Raptors in action included 3 Marsh Harrier, one with an unidentified bird (hopefully not Marbled Duck..) as prey item, was 'robbed' by a Common Buzzar

11 November 2011

Bird News

Bird News

A Greenland White-fronted Goose was reported to be on the reserve this afternoon (via the internet) so we cannot be sure of the veracity of this information, although it wouldn't be a surprise. [...]

11 November 2011

Marbled duck seen on reserve

Marbled duck seen on reserve

A Marbled Duck was found 4.15pm with Common Teal from the Ron Barker Hide yesterday. It appeared to be fully winged and the assumption is that it will be the same bird that turned up on the Ribble on the 4th of September. There has been a couple of furthe

8 November 2011

Murky

Murky

Pretty murky conditions all day but plenty of activity nonetheless. Raptors in action included 3 Marsh Harrier, one with an unidentified bird (hopefully not Marbled Duck..) as prey item, was 'robb [...]

8 November 2011

Marbled Duck late afternoon.

Marbled Duck late afternoon.

A Marbled Duck was found 4.15pm with Common Teal from the Ron Barker Hide. It appeared to be fully winged and the assumption is that it will be the same bird that turned up on the Ribble on the 4th of [...]

7 November 2011

Birdwatching at it's best.

Birdwatching at it's best.

No counts in particular today other than to say the reserve was packed with birds, similarly to the past few days reports. A fabulous day to be out birding too with dawn til dusk sunshine, light winds [...]

6 November 2011

Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank

A cracking day started with a Spotted Redshank seen flying in high from the SW in the morning, the bird spent most of the time on the Mere and was still present at dusk roosting with Ruff back on the [...]

5 November 2011

Epic migration

Epic migration

Wild Svalbard Barnacle Geese migrate 3000km from Svalbard Island in the High Arctic to winter on Scotland's Solway Firth, with thousands feeding at WWT's Caerlaverock Wetland Centre. These magnificent animals may fly the entire distance in two days. At Ma

4 November 2011

More Birds

More Birds

Some excellent birding again with some of the highest counts of the autumn so far including Common Teal at 2175, Whooper Swan 890 and 115 Tufted Duck. Other counts included 14,000 Pink-footed Geese, 2 [...]

4 November 2011

On The Reserve

On The Reserve

With south-easterly winds blowing for the next day or two it's an excellent time to visit the reserve, not because something may be blown in (though don't rule that out), but because it makes [...]

2 November 2011

Med Gull

Med Gull

An adult winter plumage Mediterranean Gull was present on the Mere this morning with Black-headed Gulls. A big count of Ruff with 73 birds, in fact its the highest for a couple of years. Green San [...]

1 November 2011

Take your pick from our autumn feast of bird watching

Take your pick from our autumn feast of bird watching

The mild conditions of the last week have certainly been very busy in terms of the bird groups arriving on site. Some brilliant autumn birds are passing through, with flocks of Fieldfares and Redwings a constant sight and sound around the reserve. Birds o

31 October 2011

Bird News

Bird News

More raptor action with 4 Marsh Harrier again giving excellent views around the reserve. Peregrine, 2 Kestrel, at least 4 Common Buzzard and Sparrowhawk. Plenty of wildfowl building in numbers tho [...]

31 October 2011