Martin Mere

Black-tailed godwits, Martin Mere

We were promised a slightly sunnier, if still cold, day. It didn't happen but I went for a walk round Martin Mere anyway.

As the train approached New Lane we passed a field of Brussels sprouts. Every stem had a woodpigeon sitting on it.

Skylarks, New Lane

I got off at New Lane where the hedgerows were busy with chaffinches, reed buntings and great tits. A grey partridge sitting behind the hedge as I walked past would have gone unnoticed had it not decided I needed a good talking at before it scuttled off down the field. The open field beyond the hedgerow was busy with skylarks that weren't sure if I was a problem or not, taking flight whenever I stopped to look over the railway line. Over on the water treatment works crowds of black-headed gulls and starlings fussed about the treatment pans.

Walking past the fennel field

Even on a cool, grey February day like this there was a pleasing tang of aniseed about the field of fennel. A flock of redwings and a few blackbirds rummaged about in its depths.

Pink-footed geese, Martin Mere 

Over the crossing and over the field on the other side I kept hearing but not seeing pink-footed geese. A couple of groups of whooper swans flew by but no geese. The elder bush by the wrecked shed that's usually occupied by a pair of stonechats was the singing point of a robin, the stonechats were busy in the marshy rough further along. Suddenly there was a lot of noise and a cloud of a few hundred pink-feet rose from the marsh and circled round.

The walk around the outside of the reedbeds was fairly quiet. There were birds about — mostly blackbirds, robins and goldfinches — but they spent their time quietly going about their business deep in the hedgerows. A Cetti's warbler sang from the reeds on the other side of the hedge and every so often there'd be a blood-curdling squeal from a water rail.

By the reedbed walk

I bobbed through to the edge of the water treatment works hoping to find some warblers feeding by the fence. It was too cold for the midges to be active, the pied wagtails and robins were having to hop down onto the treatment pans to catch them. Just as I was writing off my chances a very handsome little chiffchaff flew in and joined them, hopping down into the pan to feed then bobbing up onto the fence to let the spray bar pass by. I'd been hoping for a Siberian chiffchaff but a nice, neat common chiffchaff, bright olive brown above and rich tan below, was more than good enough, and a much-needed year tick. It's been a lean winter for chiffchaffs and blackcaps.

I hadn't really appreciated how dry it's been lately until I realised I hadn't got my feet wet on the walk round to Martin Mere. A little egret flew from the drain as I passed through the gate and walked down to the road.

Black-tailed godwits 

Pintails

The mere was very busy with birds gathering for the mid-afternoon feed. By volume most were whooper swans, by numbers it was a toss-up between mallards, wigeons and coots. There were plenty of shelducks about, also pochards, pintails and teal. The shovelers were all over the other side of the mere with the lapwings and oystercatchers.

The black-tailed godwits were in a scrappy mood, fights breaking out every couple of minutes

A crowd of very feisty godwits bustled about in front of the hide, driving away a flock of pigeons that had arrived early for the feast. A ruff picked its way through the crowd as best could. There was a lot of hooting and hollering from some groups of whoopers. There was no obvious aggression going on so I suspect it was about pair-bonding and group-bonding, the latter important when they set off on Spring migration.

Whooper swans 

Ruff

Looking out from the Hale Hide, beyond the feeding wigeons, teal, greylags and pintails, I saw a pale shape on a distant fencepost. At first I thought it was a kestrel's underparts conspicuous in the gloom then I looked at the gate a little way along and decided it was too big for a kestrel. But it wasn't right for a peregrine. Then it fidgeted and I realised the pale shape wasn't any part of a bird at all, it was a whole barn owl. If it had kept still I'd have ended up convincing myself someone had painted the top of the fencepost white.

It was a quiet walk down to the Kingfisher Hide as was, and even quieter there. It came as a relief when a song thrush popped its head out of cover.

Marsh harrier 

The pools at the Ron Barker Hide were liberally peppered with teals, wigeons, mallards and shovelers. A female-type marsh harrier made a cameo appearance.

Snowdrops 

I wandered back, enjoying the chaffinches and greenfinches on the feeders by the gate and the snowdrops under the trees.

Cattle egrets

On the way back I didn't see a cattle egret by the roadside this time. I saw two. Otherwise it was dead quiet.

Karmic balance and all that, after such a good day then train home was cancelled and I had forty minutes' wait for the next one. It was lovely to see another barn owl as the train chugged out of the station but it wasn't a consolation prize.