I had a great day birdwatching today. My mother wanted to visit Martin Mere and do some shopping in Southport, making it an ideal day for me to spend part of Mother’s Day birding.
Martin Mere is owned by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and was established by Sir Peter Scott. Click on the link below for the history of the WWT.
Sir Peter Scott
We started off the visit by walking around the wild section of the reserve first, and from the first hide, at least 1000 Whooper swans were seen.
Whooper Swans enjoying the winter sun
Nearly feeding time
Whooper Swan
Other birds of note were Wigeon, Pintail, Pink-Footed Geese, Shoveler, Teal, Ruff, Tufted Duck and Goldeneye.
Wigeon
Pintail
Shoveler
Walking on to the next hide, we stopped and got obscured views of a Tawny Owl.
Tawny Owl is having a good sleep in the sun
The feeders held good numbers of Goldfinch, Greenfinch and 16 Tree Sparrows were seen.
Tree Sparrow
After a nice brew and a teacake, we had a look around the captive section of the reserve.
Grey Crowned Crane
Male Mandarin Duck 
Female Mandarin Duck
Greater Flamingo
Chilean Flamingo
Coot
Moorhen
After a good morning's birding and my mother enjoying herself, I called in quick at Marshside RSPB and soon connected with two drake Scaup.
Scaup
The weather was so clear today that you could see the Lake District from Marshside
Views of Blackpool Tower looking over the Ribble estuary from Marshside
