First day back on the Fylde and after catching up with some work we headed to Marton Mere. Mostly Coot and Herring Gull from the FBC hide but other species included: 3 Great Crested Grebe, a Male Reed Bunting and a Grey Heron.
As we walked along the east edge of the Mere a Cetti's Warbler was in full song - very loud! Plenty of Chiffchaff singing too.
The north bank brought us a lifer with Lesser Whitethroat and and year tick with Willow Warbler. I came across the LWT completely by accident and found identifying the bird much easier than I had expected.
I've struggled trying to separate Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff and when a possible candidate has showed so far this spring it has refused to sing! I sat there and stared at the bird, muttering "sing you b*stard sing!" under my breath. About a minute passed and then came the descending call! WHOOP!
No sign of any Wheatear today at the newly mowed patch (although that grass is growing fast).
The mere as a whole felt very quiet and couple of friendly faces who stopped to chat all said the same. If it hadn't been for the warblers it would have been an afternoon of mostly Coots and Gulls (not that we don't like Coots and Gulls!)
As we walked along the east edge of the Mere a Cetti's Warbler was in full song - very loud! Plenty of Chiffchaff singing too.
The north bank brought us a lifer with Lesser Whitethroat and and year tick with Willow Warbler. I came across the LWT completely by accident and found identifying the bird much easier than I had expected.
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| Lesser Whitethroat - Photo by @scyrene |
I've struggled trying to separate Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff and when a possible candidate has showed so far this spring it has refused to sing! I sat there and stared at the bird, muttering "sing you b*stard sing!" under my breath. About a minute passed and then came the descending call! WHOOP!
 |
| Willow Warbler - Photo by @scyrene |
No sign of any Wheatear today at the newly mowed patch (although that grass is growing fast).
The mere as a whole felt very quiet and couple of friendly faces who stopped to chat all said the same. If it hadn't been for the warblers it would have been an afternoon of mostly Coots and Gulls (not that we don't like Coots and Gulls!)
The photos in this post were taken at Marton Mere NR by @scyrene who has kindly given me permission to use them - Please check out his Flickr.