Friday, 25 November 2011

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve Martin Mere..........................

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust reserve at Martin Mere.
The name of the centre comes from the mere on the west side of the reserve which is ringed by 11 observation hides.
The Harrier Hide is an amazing structure.

 The interior of the Harrier Hide... it also has a floor to ceiling window.

On the east side of the reserve there are a number of pens providing habitats for birds from Africa, Australasia, North America, South America, Siberia and Asia.

 Red-crested Pochard (Netta rufina).

White-cheeked Pintail (Anas bahamensis).
A dabbling duck from the Carribean and South America.

 Hides are all around the reserve and full of information about the birds on show.

Martin Mere is at its best in winter attracting huge flocks of Pink-footed Geese, Wigeon and Whooper Swans and even rarer birds such as the Snow Goose.
It is also a great place to see birds of prey... I saw my first Marsh Harrier here yesterday.

Wonderful birds as far as the eye can see.... the Whooper Swans are a beautiful winter visitor.

       Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus).

Greylag Goose (Anser anser).
The BBC programme Autumnwatch was broadcast live from Martin Mere during 2006 and 2007.
In 2010 I was delighted to receive an email asking if they could use one of my images of the Pink-footed Geese at Martin Mere for the Autumnwatch website to illustrate an article on migration.


The BBC Autumnwatch article is here.
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14 comments:

  1. TexWisGirl25 November 2011 at 19:41

    those hides are pretty neat. like the fencing too!

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  2. Horst in Edmonton25 November 2011 at 21:11

    Wow, what a great place to see these beautiful creatures, and the Hides are fantastic. Here in Canada we quite a few bird sanctuary's but humans are not welcome. To many hunters around.

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  3. Bob Bushell25 November 2011 at 21:38

    I like the steps up to the hide, unfortunately, not for me. Another WWT site will be another that I would like to see.

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  4. Laura~Pretty Pix26 November 2011 at 00:49

    Amazing bird population, it must be a joy to see. And the Harrier Hide is wonderful!

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  5. Stewart M26 November 2011 at 10:00

    Hi there - Only ever visited Martin Mere once - and I went in the summer! That last image is great. Such a large flock.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Australia

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  6. ADRIAN26 November 2011 at 10:02

    A great place.....real hides are these.
    Congratulations...I hope the BBC paid.

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  7. tiptoethruphylsgarden.blogspot.com26 November 2011 at 23:37

    Your waterfowl are so beautiful,the feathers so striking the way you have caught them.
    What an unusual building for sure!phyllis

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  8. The Glebe Blog27 November 2011 at 10:19

    Beautiful pictures.
    I visited back in the late 70's.Watching on the T.V it's changed beyond recognition since then.

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  9. Firas27 November 2011 at 14:03

    What a refreshing post with great shots!!
    :)

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  10. Michelle27 November 2011 at 18:33

    and the photo they want to use is wonderful..it reminds me of my neighbor's domestic geese who used to spend the summer on our pond..I grew to love geese...

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  11. Pantherka29 November 2011 at 09:10

    Great and beautiful images.

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  12. Pat30 November 2011 at 00:23

    Wow - it's really neat that the BBC used your photo on its website!
    This looks like a wonderful place for bird watching and photographing. I'm impressed by the Harrier Hide.

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  13. Carole M.30 November 2011 at 06:48

    that Harrier Hide is amazing; and I just love the stately look of the Red-crested Pochard

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  14. Momentos Creativos6 December 2011 at 03:17

    que belleza, sorprendente la bandada de patos muy buena toma,excellent!!

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