Martin Mere

Cattle egret doing like it says on the tin

I was going to go for a wander round Martin Mere then I spotted reports of a purple heron there today which put me off a bit but I went anyway. I didn't fancy the idea of a twitch going on in the Ron Barker Hide but it's been a long while since I last saw one.

I hit a snag along the way: the train stopping at New Lane was cancelled and the next one would be two hours later so I waited for the next one to Burscough Bridge and walked down from there.

It was a nice day so the walk down to Martin Mere was pleasant enough. The fields were full of rooks and woodpigeons, five buzzards soared overhead and were pestered by carrion crows, skeins of pink-footed geese flew over, and small flocks of swallows passed by flying every which way but South. I've no idea why a cormorant was circling the potato store on Brandeth Farm.

Cattle egret

When I got to Martin Mere I headed straight for the Ron Barker Hide in the spirit of getting it over and done with quickly so that I could enjoy the rest of the visit. I stopped briefly in the Hale Hide to get my bearings and was treated to three cattle egrets amongst the longhorn cattle grazing the opposite side of the mere.

I paused at the corner of the path for my habitual scan of the ivy-covered trees in the hopes of a tawny owl, with the usual negative result.

The Ron Barker Hide was busy but not atrociously so and I managed to get myself a seat and a window and started to scan round. Apparently I'd just missed the purple heron and it had retreated into the willows at the far end of the drain out of sight. There was plenty else about: a dozen pink-feet preened in the middle of a crowd of fifty-odd dozing teal, shovelers dabbled and moorhens squabbled, three whooper swans slept while half a dozen ruff couldn't settle on which pool they were feeding on, flying from one to another at ten minute intervals.

Marsh harrier

Marsh harrier

Marsh harrier

Marsh harrier

A marsh harrier flew in quite close and was ignored by everything on the marsh except a charm of goldfinches which flew off in a panic. It kept having a go at something in the willows at the end of the drain and there was some concern that it was harassing the purple heron. It turned out that it was harassing another marsh harrier. The two sparred in flight before one settled in a tree over the other side of the pool and the other resumed hunting over the reedbeds.

Pink-footed geese

There had been a report of a spotted crake here earlier. I've never seen a spotted crake and I wasn't going to today either as it turned out to have been a misidentified water rail. Mind you, I didn't see the water rail, either.

Every so often a grey heron would fly by and there'd be a collective double-take. I spotted something flying towards us from the reeds and was puzzled by it. At first it came head-on and I thought it was a juvenile cormorant but as it got closer I realised the proportions were all wrong and it was some other big, dark bird with a long beak. The penny dropped and I realised it was a juvenile purple heron. I wasn't alone, there were cries of: "There it is!" from elsewhere in the hide. We got an excellent view as it wheeled round and settled down out of sight in the reeds on the far right-hand side of the marsh. As it came out of silhouette that dark colour could be seen to be a motley pattern of browns, sandy oranges and iron grey. We'd had about half a minute's sighting but it was a nice cameo appearance.

Purple heron

Purple heron

I walked back down the path to have a proper look over the mere. Common hawkers patrolled the ditches and willows. A family of long-tailed tits flitted along the hedgerow by the road and there were plenty of robins about but there weren't many finches of any sort and no tree sparrows to be seen at all along this path.

Moorhen, cormorant, lapwings, cattle egret and black-headed gull

I spent a while in the Discovery Hide looking over the mere. There were four cattle egrets, the three I'd already spotted and a fourth sitting on one of the rafts. There were equal numbers of teal and mallards but no wigeon despite the hundreds I saw just down the road at Crossens the other day. I managed to find a pintail tucked to one side fast asleep.

Black-headed gulls, lapwings, shoveler and pintail

It was starting to cloud over and there was a hint of rain in the air. I checked the trains and headed off for New Lane to get the train home. There was a steady stream of swallows and sand martins passing overhead as I walked down Marsh Moss Road. A flock of sand martins arrived at New Lane Station and lingered awhile, the combination of low cloud and the nearby water treatment works bringing out the midges for them to feed on. They were still there when my train left for a mercifully uneventful journey home

Marsh Moss Road