Local Group Outing to:

RSPB Marshside
and
WWT Martin Mere

15th January 2012

What a beautiful winter day, and what better thing to do than to get out in the sunshine and do some birding, and that's just what we did.

Heading out to the Ribble Estuary we met up and spent the morning at the RSPB - Marshside Reserve spending time both in the hides and scanning the marsh areas. Waders, Raptors and Passerines were to be seen (see the sightings list below).

Moving on to WWT - Martin Mere, we spent a time exploring the reserve, but of course taking some time to enjoy the shear spectacle of the Whooper Swans, together with the many other wildfowl both on the water and the adjacent fields, (again see the sightings list below).

Gordon

Below are some images from the day courtesy of:-
Joyce Streets (JS)
David Tolliday (DRT)
and yours truly (GJH)

Pintail Duck (Anas acuta) (DRT)

Eurasian Teal (Anas crecca) (DRT)

Black-tailed Godwit flock (Limosa limosa) (JS)

Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) grazing (GJH)



Black-tailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) in flight (DRT)



Can you count the Starlings?? (Sturnus vulgaris) (GJH)

Reed Bunting (Embireza schoeniclus) (GJH)

Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) (GJH)

Whooper Swan (Anser anser) in flight (JS)



Whooper Swan (Anser anser) (DT)



Whooper Swan family (Anser anser) (JS)



Whooper Swans greeting (Anser anser) (JS)

	Marshside (=MS) &	RSPB Group
	Martin Mere (=MM)	16-Jan-12		Where
Count	Common Name	Latin Name	SubSp	Seen
1	Little Grebe	Tachybaptus ruficollis		MS
2	Grey Heron	Ardea cinerea		MM
3	Whooper Swan	Cygnus cygnus		MM
4	Bean Goose	Anser fabilis		MM
5	Pink-footed Goose	Anser brachyrhynchus		Both
6	Greylag Goose	Anser anser		Both
7	White fronted Goose	Anser albifrons albifrons	Yes	MM
8	Canada Goose	Branta canadensis		MS
9	Common Shelduck	Tadorna tadorna		Both
10	European Wigeon	Anas penelope		Both
11	Gadwall	Anas strepera		MS
12	Eurasian Teal	Anas crecca		Both
13	Northern Pintail	Anas acuta		Both
14	Mallard	Anas platyrhynchos		Both
15	Northern Shoveler	Anas clypeata		Both
16	Common Pochard	Aythya ferina		MS
17	Eurasian Marsh harrier	Circus aeruginosus		MM
18	European Sparrowhawk	Accipiter nisus		MS
19	Common Kestrel	Falco tinnunculus		MS
20	Merlin	Falco columbarius		MS
21	Peregrine Falcon	Falco peregrinus		MS
22	Common Moorhen	Gallinula chloropus		MM
23	Common Coot	Fulica atra		MS
24	European Golden Plover	Pluvialis apricaria		MS
25	Lapwing	Vanellus vanellus		MS
26	Ruff	Philomachus pugnax		MM
27	Common Snipe	Gallinago gallinago		MS
28	Black-tailed Godwit	Limosa limosa		MS
29	Eurasian Curlew	Numenius arquata		MS
30	Redshank	Tringa totanus		MM
31	Black-headed Gull	Larus ridibundus		MS
32	Common (Mew) Gull	Larus canus		MS
33	Herring Gull	Larus argentatus		MS
34	Lesser Black-backed Gull	Larus fuscus		MS
35	Great Black-backed Gull	Larus marinus		MS
36	Skylark	Alauda arvensis		MS
37	Pied Wagtail	Motocilla alba yarrellii	Yes	MS
38	Northern Wren	Troglodytes troglodytes		MM
39	Blue Tit	Parus caeruleus		MM
40	Carrion Crow	Corvus corone		MS
41	Common Starling	Sturnus vulgaris		MS
42	Tree Sparrow	Passer montanus		MM
43	Chaffinch	Fringilla coelebs		MM
44	Greenfinch	Carduelis chloris		MM
45	European Goldfinch	Carduelis carduelis		MM
46	Linnet	Carduelis cannabina		MS
47	Reed Bunting	Emberiza schoeniclus		MM