Martin Mere

The plan for today involved a day out at Martin Mere. Unfortunately, today the Met Office forecast was spot on: the wind picked up as I was walking from New Lane Station to Martin Mere and in the time it took me to get my membership card swiped at the entrance a few spots of rain turned into something a bit nastier. I could have coped with the wind or the rain, the combination was too much for me. Taking shelter in the Discovery Hide I just about managed to see the tundra bean goose that's been staying the week and there was a very nice Mediterranean gull amongst the black-headed gulls. After an hour I decided I'd had as much fun as I was going to get there today and wandered off to catch the train at Burscough Bridge.

Whooper swans and shelduck from Marsh Moss Lane

Most of the whooper swans were outside Martin Mere feeding on the fields with shelducks and black-headed gulls. A flock on one of the carrot fields included a single Bewick's swan (back in the 90s they were as common as the whooper swans but these days they're pretty scarce in Lancashire).

I was struck by how little yellow this whooper had on its beak

The wind and rain kept most of the small birds under cover or on the ground. The stubble fields were full of fieldfares and redwings and a bit more persistence than was sensible in the circumstances got me a few corn buntings amongst the meadow pipits. One of those odd days where you feel you've given up early but it turns out you saw fifty-six species and added six to the year list.