Marton mere, Blackpool

Nearly the end of January and I finally get the birding blog off the ground!!!
I've only been out birding twice this year ( to Stocks reservoir and Marshside) but reports of Cettis warbler and Bittern at Marton mere were too tempting to stay in being lazy.
Havent been to MM for about 2 years, but then it is 30 miles from home. It is a much better option than similarly named Martin Mere cos entry is free and people dont bring their kids to feed the ducks etc its a bit less "theme-park like".
Unfortunately, it does suffer from teenagers running amok on trail motorbikes, litter and vandalism to the bird hides.


There is a well known Long eared Owl roost between the lake and the golf course. There were 4 owls visible today, but they can be quite difficult to see. All four are in the picture to the left, but only 1 is obvious.
No luck with the Cetti's but lots of reed buntings flitting around the reed beds pretending to be Cetti's just to annoy me. Jill saw a Bittern to much excited acclaim but of course it was just a long "bittern shaped" blade of grass!!

Heres a list of all birds seen today -

Blue tit
Great tit
Long tailed tit
Coal tit
Reed bunting
Greenfinch
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Dunnock
Robin
Wren
Redwing
Fieldfare
Blackbird
Starling
Stonechat
Pheasant
Lapwing
Sparrowhawk
Buzzard
Kestrel
Long eared owl
Wood pigeon
Stock dove
Collared dove
Grey Heron
Mute swan
Greylag goose
Canada goose
Cormorant
Mallard
Tufted duck
Pochard
Teal
Gadwall
Wigeon
Shoveller
Coot
Moorhen
Great crested grebe
Black headed gull
Herring gull
Magpie
Rook
Carrion crow

So 45 species for the day, but no Cettis or Bittern.
Nice to see that the LEOs are still roosting there.

Think I'll contact the warden at MM to suggest combination locks (rather than key locks) for the hides. We use this system at other birding locations in Lancs, meaning that the birders can still gain access to the hides (after contacting the warden for the code) but keep the ASBO offspring out.