Marshside

I reached Marshside about 30 minutes before high tide, and as usual it was a great spectacle, with birds flying in all directions. There were incredible numbers of Wigeon, easily 10,000, and possibly 4 or 5 times that many. I only saw 2 birds of prey, a Merlin and a Buzzard, but there were plenty of waders in evidence. A flock of Knot formed a swirling cloud, immitating Starlings and there were Golden Plover, Lapwings, Redshank, Curlews, Oystercatchers and Black-tailed Godwits. A flock of finches proved to be Linnets, which were added to the year list about 1 hour after Twite! There were at least 20 Little Egrets dotted around the marsh and about 2000 Pink-footed Geese.

Time for lunch, and then on to Martin Mere.


Mainly Wigeon! This just a small part of the total, with most birds on the outer marsh. Large though these counts for Wigeon may seem, it's interesting to note that in the winter of 1991/92 there were an estimated 100,000 Wigeon on the Ribble.