Martin Mere

The Mere

A bright, sunny morning had me heading off to New Lane for the long walk round to Martin Mere.

Walking beside the line from New Lane station I was hearing more than I was seeing. House sparrows and robins in the hedgerows, starlings, pied wagtails and linnets in the fields. There were dozens rather than hundreds of black-headed gulls on the water treatment works with the dozens of starlings and pied wagtails, probably a sign of turning seasons. The carrots were just sprouting in one of the fields I passed, I could see a few pied wagtails about but it was only when a passing train sounded its horn that I could see any of the linnets. About fifty of them rose then disappeared again, taking advantage of furrows that were barely three inches high. If I was struggling in open ground I didn't have much hopes of seeing much in the fennel field. I was lucky again: the Wigan-bound train sounded its horn at the crossing and about a hundred linnets and a few dozen stock doves took to the trees to let it go past. The chaffinches and greenfinches didn't bother and just chirped their defiance from the depths.

Whooper swans

As a crossed the line the first whooper swans of the day flew by and a marsh harrier drifted towards the farm. The field was very quiet, I'd almost given up on the pair of stonechats until they bobbed up just at the last minute. I checked out the cattle grazing the next field along, last time they were festooned with cattle egrets but I saw none today. Can't be lucky all the time.

Stonechat

Looking towards Winter Hill

Looking towards Windmill Farm

The walk around the outside of Martin Mere's reedbeds was predictably damp but not awful. The hedgerows were surprisingly quiet, goldfinches outsinging the robins and just a few blue tits and great tits about. I wandered over to the perimeter fence of the sewage works to see what was about and was immediately rewarded by a Siberian chiffchaff on the fence by the drain, cold coffee brown above and white below and a touch of sulphur on the flanks. This gave me the chance to get another "there was a warbler there a moment ago" photo though there's no art in it now I'm a lot slower with this camera. There were three or four chiffchaffs in the hawthorns at the head of the drain together with a few blue tits and long-tailed tits. The chiffchaffs had been crowded out from the perimeter fence by a flock of reed buntings.

Reed bunting

It felt like a long walk from the sewage works to the road. I was rewarded by a large mixed finch flock in the alders planted along the fence to the reserve. All the noise was goldfinch but most of the bodies were siskins.

Whooper swans, black-headed gulls, pintails and shelducks

Sitting down at the Discovery Hide the mere was very busy as the wildfowl got ready for the free feed later in the afternoon. 

Whooper swan

Black-headed gulls

Black-tailed godwit

Black-tailed godwit

Greylag

Whooper swans cruised about and shouted over the greylags loafing on the banks, there were plenty of wigeon, mallards and shelducks, pochards dived by the hide and for some reason most of the pintails congregated over by one of the islands. A dozen black-tailed godwits twittered from the island by the hide, a couple of them flew over and started feeding just in front. There was a handful of pink-footed geese on the far bank together with half a dozen cormorants and a few lapwings and oystercatchers. It's late February and the black-headed gulls were already settling territorial claims on some of the rafts.

The snowdrops had gone over

I had a quick shufti from the Hale Hide where teal and shelducks were having a wash and brush-up. Suddenly there was a cloud of waders and black-headed gulls over the mere. For the life of me I couldn't find the cause but I did find a couple of ruffs I'd missed when I was looking round.

From the Kingfisher Hide 

I was watching the chaffinches, goldfinches and reed buntings feeding by the Kingfisher Hide when it dawned on me to wonder when I last saw a tree sparrow at Martin Mere. I've looked it up, it was the beginning of March last year.

Chaffinch

The pools at the Ron Barker Hide were busy with teal and shovelers. A dozen Canada geese loafed by the banks, a couple of whoopers sat on the far bank and half a dozen greylags flew by. A marsh harrier flew low over the far reedbeds. Even further out a buzzard was harassed by jackdaws over the woods. Looking the other way, back towards New Lane, I could see more of the herd of cattle and there, riding shotgun on a blue and white cow, a cattle egret with its butter yellow bill catching the sun.

I'd been wandering about for the best part of four hours so I treated myself to a pot of tea and set off for Burscough Bridge for the train home. It was a relatively quiet walk, handfuls of woodpigeons, starlings and spadgers most of the way down. A couple of whooper swans grazed a field on Curlew Lane, small skeins of pink-footed geese flew overhead, a flock of lapwings foraged on a stubble field beyond.

Tarlescough Road

As I passed the junction with Crabtree Road I scanned over the apparently empty field on my side of the road and found a couple of hundred woodpigeons and fifty or more fieldfares rummaging round the far margin at the base of the hedgerow.

Rookery, Burscough Brtdge

Jackdaws, Burscough Brtdge

I didn't have long to wait for the train home weary after a long day's wander. I dozed off almost immediately after I had my tea until the cat woke me up and sent me to bed for snoring.

Red Cat Lane