A Visit to Martin Mere WWT

We spent today at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Centre at Martin Mere near Southport in Lancashire - a centre that combines waterfowl gardens with plenty of habitat and hides to keep serious birders happy.

Ideal for families as well, with push-chair friendly paths and plenty of activities through-out the year. We've been members since last spring, and are likely to re-join next year. 

It's a great place to visit if you're into photography, even if wildlife photography isn't your main interest. The waterfowl gardens let you get up nice and close to species that you'd otherwise struggle to see, whilst the hides offer fantastic views out over the marshes, meres and reedbeds.

The snow from the last few weeks began a major thaw today, but much of the water was still frozen, this Wood Duck finding something interesting at the edge of the ice.

The waterfowl gardens contain a large array of species, split into various continents, and range from Flamingos to less well known species such as the Cape Barren Goose below. For some reason this particular bird always seems to charge me when we visit, and is rather aggressively territorial. Still a good chance to test the auto focus and your panning skills.

The winter weather provided plenty of other opportunities as well, these frozen footprints being one example.

In winter the reserve itself becomes home for vast numbers of migrating Pink-footed Geese and Whooper Swans. Today there were reportedly around 1900 Whooper Swan, although this pales into insignificance with the 36,000 Pink Footed Geese that were using the reserve back in Autumn. The views out of the hides with this number of birds is fantastic, and provides a visual feast - for both seasoned birders and those new to the whole experience.

There's something quite majestic about watching the swans fly over. Once airborne they seem to move with such ease and grace, and sometimes it's nicer to simply watch than follow with the camera.

Overall a fantastic day, and a place I wholeheartedly recommend a visit to if you're in the area - although it eventually became too much our young daughter.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all,

Andrew.