Latest sightings
New years day
New Years Day many birders start off their annual bird list and there is no better place to visit, in my opinion, than Martin Mere. It was a very wet start to the morning but that didnt stop the blackbirds alarm calling near the Ron Barker hide, alerting
1 January 2023
Latest Sightings
Temperatures have warmed and the ice covering the reserve has melted away. The teal have returned to Woodend marsh with around 300 there consistently along with 2 snipe and a grey wagtail. Pink-footed goose numbers are fluctuating but remaining quite low,
23 December 2022
Latest Sightings
The temperature has suddenly warmed and much of the ice covering the reserve is melting away. The teal have returned to Woodend marsh with around 300 there this morning along with 2 snipe and a flythrough kingfisher and a grey wagtail. Pink-footed goose n
19 December 2022
Latest Sightings
Despite all the colder whether recently there is still plenty of birdlife to see on the reserve. The majority of the ducks have now finished there moult and the male pintails in particular are looking fantastic, with 158 of them on the mere today! Whooper
12 December 2022
Latest Sightings
This week the temperature has really dropped on the reserve. The first proper frosts have set in and large sections of the mere have frozen over. Wildfowl can be seen either gathering in the parts that haven’t frozen over or attempting to skitter across
8 December 2022
Latest Sightings
Wader visitation continues apace this week. Fourteen ruff were counted in front of Raines Hide at noon today along with three black tailed godwits on the mere. On Sunday there was a golden plover and two dunlin flocking with the lapwings at Gordon Taylor.
5 December 2022
Latest Sightings
It’s been a chilly couple of days on the reserve, and cold weather has pushed some of our Eastern migrants in. Large numbers of fieldfares from Scandinavia were bustling in the trees between Hale and Ron Barker hides. Higher numbers of pintails from Rus
1 December 2022
Latest Sightings
The blue flash of a kingfisher was seen darting along the sluice in front of Ron Barker this morning.Numbers of whooper swans continue to slowly build, with our latest count at 426. You can tell apart the newer arrivals from the ones who have been here fo
28 November 2022
Latest Sightings
Another exciting week here at Martin mere, with yesterday in particular having a few visits from some great birds! The first was an adult Bewick's swan that roosted on the mere with the whoopers, seen on the morning of the 20th but left shortly after firs
21 November 2022
Latest Sightings
The wildfowl over the past week has definitely been the highlight of the bird sightings. Our highest count of Whooper swans was around 350, with a number of birds having freshly arrived from Iceland. Shelduck, wigeon, pintail and pink-footed geese numbers
15 November 2022
Latest Sightings
Although the reserve has been closed and has been quiet with no visitors, the opposite can be said for our avian visitors! As migration continues the biggest change you'll notice on your return visits to Martin Mere is that our Whooper swans have returned
7 November 2022
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 juve
2 October 2022
Latest Sightings
Just when we thought things couldn’t get any more exciting, after the arrival of the juv purple heron, we’ve had another visitor from further afield turn up on the reserve. A pectoral sandpiper arrived on Woodend marsh at around mid-day on Saturday an
26 September 2022
Latest Sightings
Another day of plenty of bird life on the reserve, unfortunately the purple heron has not been seen since Wednesday but hopefully it will reappear! The 4 cattle egrets are still showing well on the backs of the cattle around the mere and can be seen catch
23 September 2022
Latest Sightings - Purple Heron!
A big part of the excitement of autumn migration is that you just never know what is going to turn up! Yesterday evening we had a great surprise at dusk when a juvenile purple heron flew over the reedbed to the left of the mere! It circled over the mere a
21 September 2022