End of Year at Martin Mere

For a change recently I have made one or two visits to Martin Mere Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Reserve.There is always plenty to see at the reserve and it was good to visit the various hides again.The predominant birds present at this time of the year are whooper swans and pink footed geese.Many of the swans and geese were feeding outside the reserve on neighbouring farmland and were photographable from some of the country lanes.

Later on the reserve I managed some flight shots of the swans and geese as they returned for their afternoon feed of grain supplied by the reserve.I was lucky to spot a barn owl as it emerged from it's roost in one of the buildings on the reserve.It wasn't easy to photograph through branches of trees and again I was lucky to see it catch prey within range of the camera but the images are not of the best quality and purely record shots.

Little egrets are now common at the reserve and often make for nice images.Probably the highlight of my visits was the common buzzard which spent some time preening whilst perched up out from the Gladstone Hide.It was well within camera range and looked good in the sun.A colourful mallard,pintail and waterhen complete the selection.This will probably be my last post of the year.Therefore I wish all my followers and fellow photographers a Happy and Healthy 2020.Thanks for looking in.