I had half a day locally yesterday.
An hour at Mere Sands looking for the Kingfisher from Rufford Hide, but no luck.
A possible Fox peeped out of the bushes, but it could have been a cat, very pale, and slinked away almost as soon as I'd seen it..
Then an hour at Martin Mere.
The highlight was 3 Peregrines sat on a fence at the back of the mere.
Looked like a male, female and a youngster, there were apparently 2 youngsters about.
I also saw a yound hedgehog, which was nice, until I saw it was eating the remains of a dead rat !!
2 Marsh Harriers eventually showed up from Millers Bridge, and 5 Whooper Swans must have been some of the first back for the winter along with lots of Teal. Plenty of Pink Feet going in and out of the reserve.
But I could only pick out 1 Ruff amongst the Lapwing ans Mallards on the Mere.
There seems to be lots of Tree Sparrows around at both sites, so maybe they've had a good breeding season. Didn't see any Reed Buntings which was strange, especially for Mere Sands, but it was generally quiet, with not many woodland birds at all, and those that were there seemed to be congregated around the feeders.
An hour at Mere Sands looking for the Kingfisher from Rufford Hide, but no luck.
A possible Fox peeped out of the bushes, but it could have been a cat, very pale, and slinked away almost as soon as I'd seen it..
Then an hour at Martin Mere.
The highlight was 3 Peregrines sat on a fence at the back of the mere.
Looked like a male, female and a youngster, there were apparently 2 youngsters about.
I also saw a yound hedgehog, which was nice, until I saw it was eating the remains of a dead rat !!
2 Marsh Harriers eventually showed up from Millers Bridge, and 5 Whooper Swans must have been some of the first back for the winter along with lots of Teal. Plenty of Pink Feet going in and out of the reserve.
But I could only pick out 1 Ruff amongst the Lapwing ans Mallards on the Mere.
There seems to be lots of Tree Sparrows around at both sites, so maybe they've had a good breeding season. Didn't see any Reed Buntings which was strange, especially for Mere Sands, but it was generally quiet, with not many woodland birds at all, and those that were there seemed to be congregated around the feeders.
