Martin Mere part 2

My last post concentrated on the beautiful Whooper Swans at Martin Mere, but they were not the only birds that I photographed on my last visit.
There was a small flock of Pintail near the hide; the exquisitely-plumaged males were displaying to the females. They swam and jostled in the water like miniature dodgems until they were in the best position in front of a female, then they would flick their heads back, and if they were in a really good position this would be followed by a quick tail flick. I have seen similar behaviour in Eurasian Teals but this was the first time I had seen Pintails indulge in this activity.
There were plenty of Pinkfooted Geese on the reserve as well, and they occasionally took to the air in massive flocks, no doubt in response to the presence of a raptor such as a Peregrine. Last Autumn there were record numbers of Pinkfooted Geese seen at Martin Mere; it is used as a stopover by birds on their way to Norfolk and I believe over 45,000 birds were counted! In mid-January numbers are again starting to increase as birds return from Norfolk and ready themselves for the coming of Spring and the long flight back to their breeding grounds in Iceland.
And in a brief spell of sunshine a small scattering of Shelduck swam past the hide.
The bird-feeders on the reserve also produced a year-tick for me in the form of Reed Bunting. The males will soon be in breeding plumage; actually achieved by feather wear and not by moult.
I also saw my first Great Spotted Woodpecker of the year but it was too elusive for a decent photograph.

Male Pintail

Female Pintail

Shelduck

Reed Bunting

Pinkfooted Geese

Autumn Pinkfoot

 

Look back at 2014

2014 was a busy year for me, unfortunately not due to wildlife watching! I moved house in June and this had a massive impact on my free time; my new house still isn't quite straight yet. I did get out and about when I could but time long trips was limited so I am glad I got to Cyprus before I moved, although I still haven't had time to edit those photos yet either! (Cyprus blog post coming soon, hopefully).
Like a lot of birders I don't twitch as much  as I used to, but maybe that is not a bad thing. But a mega rarity in the form of a Buff-bellied Pipit just down the road at Burton Point proved irresistible and this LBJ showed well at times.

This was a quality year-tick for 2014 as I had seen the bird at the end of 2013 when it was first found.

Cetaceans were also a dominant theme of my wildlife trips last year. A trip to New Quay in Wales in August produced some stunning land-based sightings of Bottlenosed Dolphins, including a mother with her calf. (another blog post in the pipeline!)

While much further north in Northumberland, I went on a boat trip in search of White-beaked Dolphins. Sadly this species wasn't seen on my trip but two Minke Whales and a cetacean life-tick in the form of Atlantic White-sided Dolphins close to the boat more than made up for missing the target animals.

The beginning of summer also coincided with Autumnwatch's 100 days of nature; a challenge to encourage people to attempt to photograph wildlife every day in the run up to last year's Autumnwatch. And this certainly prompted me to get outside with my camera; the results of which are still on my twitter feed @keithscovell3
One of my many highlights of this challenge was a visit to Arnside Knott in Cumbria where I photographed the scarce High Brown Fritillary. My dolphin with calf photo also made it onto Autumnwatch Unsprung!

Closer to home a record number of Pinkfooted Geese, (45,000!) were recorded at Martin Mere in Lancashire, where I was able to witness a remarkable avian spectacle on a par with any starling murmuration.

There was only one very brief cold snap in December and I was lucky enough to be at Leighton Moss RSPB when up to four Otters could be seen running and playing on the ice; truly magical!