LANCS: It's getting serious now!

Mrs B's telescope broke on the way back from D&G so had to go and get a Lady's spotting 'scope. So, she's getting serious about this birding lark now (have to think of places to hide all this when I go away in November) and as the only lightweight spotting 'scope with a lipstick holder is sold at Martin Mere WWT I just had to go there. Oh, there is a Ross's Goose there as well. Hmpph.

Pink-feet outside the Martin Mere WWT entrance in stubble.

Anyway, didn't take a lot of finding this morning. In fact I hadn't even entered the reserve as the first flock of geese I checked outside the car park had at least one Barnacle and the Ross's Goose.

Nearly 14,000 Pink-feet on the reserve this morning apparently and it was an absolute pleasure being out this morning with the blue sky, sunshine and skeins of geese everywhere.

I'm sometimes asked if I'd like to live in South America given that I spend so much of the year there. Well, the answer is irrefutably "No". Nothing can beat a sunny UK October day in my opinion.

Plenty of Pinks in the stubble field just outside the entrance (note Ross's in background), with many commuting to the reserve every now and then making a spectacular sight. The Ross's Goose never really came into photography range but I had a go nevertheless ....

Seemed a bit quiet on the reserve as far as I could see apart from spectacular flights of grey geese. Many Ruff on the flooded grasslands, stacks of Teal, Wigeon and Pintail plus a handful of Pochards and a Tufted Duck on the mere seen from the In Focus shop.

The Ron Barker Hide: And it's good night from him .... (yeah, I know).

First of the Whooper Swans were infront of the Ron Barker Hide, but strangely no harriers or even a Peregrine for me today.

Off to D&G in a couple of days time. Now last time I visited MMWWT to buy optics prior to a trip to the Solway we saw the Pacific Golden Plover up there ........