The weather was warm and settled ideal conditions for the pink footed geese to arrive from Iceland. I like to witness one of nature’s spectacles as the geese arrive at Martin Mere for their winter holidays. There were already about seven thousand geese in the area and I was hoping for many more during the day. As it turned out it was relatively quiet with only one skein arriving during my stay. A lot more have arrived since then and there are now many thousands at Martin Mere. Next arrival will be the whooper swans from Iceland and they will be arriving nearer the end of October. It was still a very pleasant day at Martin Mere and it was nice to bump into Tom Charles from Liverpool who I hadn’t seen for a number of years.
On the way back driving down one of the country lanes I discovered parasol mushrooms at the side of the road. This was a fungi that I always wanted to find and I made the best of this discovery by taking a number of images the best of which are shown below. I have since returned to the spot and they are still there although not looking quite as fresh.
Finally a grey phalarope turned up at Newton Marsh. A good number of these scarce visitors had been blown inland following recent storms so I felt obliged to twitch this bird as it was on my doorstep. It was a smart little bird and was very busy spinning around as only phalaropes can do. It was a little distant but I managed a few record shots of this scarce visitor to Lancashire. Hope you enjoy my latest images and my next posting will feature the many Egrets and Shanks present at Leighton Moss. Thanks for looking in and enjoy the weekend.
Brian Rafferty
I am based in Preston. Lancashire. This central location enables me to travel easily to a wide variety of habitats in the North of England. I tend these days not to travel very far as I find that there is plenty to see not very far from home. On my own doorstep are a wonderful variety of habitats - natural woodlands, open fells and hill country, unspoilt river valleys and I have easy access to the delights of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks. As you will see from my bird images much time is spent at the wonderful coastal sites forming part of Morecambe Bay and the Ribble Estuary e.g. Marshside and Leighton Moss. In recent years Digital Photography has taken over from Video and as time has moved on I have acquired more and more equipment - as you do!!
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