Having been back at uni in Liverpool for close to a week, it was decided that some birding was certainly in order. Thus me and Marc decided on a trip to WWT Martin Mere due to its good public transport links as well as the reserve having hosted both a Purple Heron and a Spotted Crake the day prior.
The arranged meeting time was 10am at Liverpool central station, however an impromptu night out and the losing of my phone resulted in me waking up at quarter to 11 and turning up an hour and a half late still pissed. Safe to say this was not my finest start to a birding trip and poor Marc had been waiting for me all that time! After apologising loads, we eventually got going. 2 trains and a couple of hours later we eventually arrived at the reserve. In broke student style we walked through a footpath at the back and hopped a fence - managing to get in without paying the entrance fee!
A stop in the first hide revealed a decent amount of action with large numbers of finches taking advantage of the seeds on offer. Goldfinches and Chaffinches were in abundance whilst it was also good to see a large amount of Greenfinches - a species which I see less and less of year upon year. A couple of rats also patrolled the floor. Wanting to get to the hide from which the Heron and Crake were seen, we headed on.
The plan was to head straight to this hide, however a few Egrets caught our eye. A quick look in the binoculars in fact revealed these to be 4 Cattle Egrets. Needless to say, me and Marc weren't the original finders of the birds however I was delighted with a solid year tick and a former rarity that is always great to see. We decided to enter the hide for a close look at the birds where they were eventually observed living up to their name and standing on top of the cattle!
The hide proved fruitful with some other solid species racked up. Notable were the early returning 2 Pink-footed Geese that were sat on the bank of the mere - yet another year tick and a species that I'm sure I will be seeing in abundance soon.
But the best was yet to come. After sitting in the hide for a prolonged period of time, we were rewarded when Marc spotted a Kingfisher in flight which we were able to get brief views off as it called. Certainly an unexpected bonus and the second trip in a row that me and Marc have stumbled across the flash of blue of this species. After waiting a while in the hope of the bird returning, we eventually gave up and headed towards the Ron Barker hide (which had hosted the Purple Heron and Spotted Crake the day prior).
Upon arrival, conditions were poor and there seemed to be a rather disappointing lack of birds. Large numbers of Moorhen patrolled the reedbed edges but I was unable to pick out any Water Rail. However, some distant waders certainly provided some entertainment. It was nice to see good numbers of Snipe in addition to even greater numbers of Ringed Plover - including many young. Brief views of a Grey Heron briefly got my heart going whilst we had more views of the Cattle Egrets which - spoiler - proved to be the best species we would see. We were also able to pick out a couple of Dunlin and Ruff in addition to a Green Sandpiper which showed fairly well. A Brown Hare hunkered down in the long grass whilst a female Marsh Harrier provided more entertainment.
But it was not to be on the rarity front with neither having a whiff of any Purple Heron or Spotted Crake. Eventually we had to head back to the train station but were content with a good day out with some solid birds to boot.
Onto the next one...
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