Martin Mere and The Whoopers

I just love visiting Martin Mere in the winter and seeing the beautiful Whooper Swans, freshly returned from their summer breeding grounds in Iceland. They are such beautiful and graceful birds, amazing characters and flipping noisy. It was a bitterly cold afternoon when Sharon and I visited and I really fely for her sat freezing while i rattled off some great shots in the lovely afternoon light. But she had a good time following the Peregrines in the binoculars, and as it was the North West Birdwatching Fair we hada  chance to have a look around the various trade stands there. On this visit I concentrated on getting some shots of the wing stretching of these beautiful birds... hope you enjoy....

A gloomy Martin Mere

As i was passing Martin Mere at the weekend, i called in to see if there was any sign of the Whooper Swans returning from Iceland, sadly there was only a few early arrivals, and the gloomy drizzly weather meant not a great photography day, but still managed a few shots

Early arrival Whooper feeding on potatoes



They reckon there are 12,000 Pink Footed Geese on the reserve at the moment, lots about on my visit, coming in to feed on the spuds!





I counted six Whoopers in total, but i am sure they will be arriving in great numbers fairly soon



A distant shot of a pair of Peregrine falcons resting



My favourite duck, the male Eider





Eider feeding frenzy



Red Crested Pochard