There had been some good run of local and national scarcities at Martin Mere in late September. A Purple Heron which first appeared at Brockholes briefly pitched up at Martin Mere and had made occasional forays out towards Marshside. Other notable species recorded included Willow Tit, Cattle Egrets, Great White Egrets, Pectoral Sandpiper, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpipers, Garganey and a Hen Harrier. A week later and the Cattle Egrets and Purple Heron were left over. It was Phillips first visit to Martin Mere.
On arrival we made our way to the Ron Barker Hide where the Purple Heron showed from. There were good numbers of birders in the hide and none had seen the Purple Heron. Sometimes it showed very well but most comments online seemed to be waited 3 hours it didn't show or showed for 15 seconds. This Purple Heron had form. It was most likely the same bird seen at Brockholes a few days before sighted at Martin Mere. It had made occasional forays to nearby areas including Marshside since it's residency. The Cattle Egrets were supposed to be on show but after about 20 minutes they appeared and sat on the cows. Two were only ever visible at the same time so we were never sure how many were actually there. A first for Phillip! I had seen 6 near Dobbies at Marshside, 1 at Fairburn Ings, 1 at Burton Mere Wetlands and a maximum count of 16 at Marshside in 2019. I think that year a peak count of 22 were recorded but since then numbers have dropped. Surprising since breeding pairs in Britain are increasing!
Buzzard, Marsh Harriers, Kestrel, Snipe, Lapwing, Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, min 10 Ruff, 1 Green Sandpiper, a whisp of Snipe and a flock of waders probably Dunlin which flew across at speed. Someone said that he thought they were Starling! 6 Swallows over were nice to see. No chance! We decided to head to the cafe and where we ordered a mushroom soup which was really nice and some cake - Victoria Sponge with buttercream for me and a Muffin for Phillip. I decided to have a flapjack later too.
Plenty of Pink Footed Geese on the reserve and flying over, 5 early Whooper Swans. Pochard, Tufted Duck, Gadwall and a few Pintail were also around. We noticed the Lapwings especially were nervous - often taking to the air but quite lazily. The Marsh Harriers weren't too much of a worry for such an agile bird. On our way to the Gordon Taylor Hide, a relatively new hide named after an extremely helpful volunteer who travelled from Middleton to help out, we started chatting to a local. The Lapwings rose but this time more vigorously and I said this won't be a Marsh Harrier. The regular said Peregrine often hunted here and as those words came out, Phillip managed to spot it terrorising the Lapwings. Just before we entered the hide a Sparrowhawk headed right over us and a female actually landed on an island in the pool, where she must have stopped for at least 15 minutes if not longer. She landed after an unsuccessful hunt and we left the hide before she she flew away. More Ruff, Snipe, Lapwing, Teal,Wigeon, Shoveler, Gadwall. The reedbed walk was proving slightly tedious but we had our only Cetti's Warbler of the day here, Pheasant, Red Legged Partridge - in reedbed area, 3 Kingfishers, Tufted Duck and our second Little Egret of the day. In fact we only had 3 Little Egret and 0 Great White Egrets.
On our way back we were told the Purple Heron was now showing at the Ron Barker Hide. I told Phillip to race ahead of me which he did. When I caught him up he managed to see it in fly from the waterside and into some tall vegetation and pointed out the area to me. Luckily I managed to see my 3rd British Purple Heron. The first at Leighton Moss in August 2017 and the second near Pilling in the Fylde in December 2019. The latter actually wintered over here successfully and last seen in Spring 2020. Last surprise of the day was a Cattle Egret on the Mere closer than the two seen earlier which were very distant. Seeing them on the same water body as Arctic Whooper Swans???? According to a young lady at the visitor centre one had taken a liking to the waterfowl pens near at the visitor centre which they found quite baffling. They had had Little and Great Egrets in there but Cattle Egrets are still that bit more exotic! Birds seen:-
Whooper Swan
Mute Swan (2 Swans in flight out of the reserve must have been this species no other Whoopers recorded)
Greylag
Canada Goose
Pink Footed Goose
Mallard
Pintail
Gadwall
Shoveler
Teal
Wigeon
Pochard
Tufted Duck
Pheasant
Red Legged Partridge
Little Grebe
Cormorant
Grey Heron
Purple Heron
Little Egret
Cattle Egret
Buzzard
Marsh Harrier
Kestrel
Peregrine
Sparrowhawk
Water Rail (heard only)
Coot
Moorhen
Snipe
Ruff
Green Sandpiper
Lapwing
Great Black Backed Gull
Herring Gull
Black Headed Gull
Collared Dove
Woodpigeon
Feral Pigeon
Kingfisher
Great Spotted Woodpecker (?)
Meadow Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Swallow
Dunnock
Wren
Blackbird
Mistle Thrush
Robin
Stonechat (?)
Cetti's Warbler
Chiffchaff (?)
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Long Tailed Tit
Carrion Crow
Magpie
Jackdaw
House Sparrow (?)
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Linnet
Reed Bunting
Notable missing species included Goldcrest, Song Thrush, Coal Tit, Skylark, Great Crested Grebe, Stock Dove, Jay.
Not a bay day - wish the entrance fee was lower though - £14 - at least it goes to a good cause.
The day after we visited Martin Mere had to close down temporarily due to Bird Flu. The North West Birdwatching Fair was cancelled for the 3rd year in a row. It still has not opened. I just hope for the best for those poor animals and the staff and volunteers too.
