Boxing day and a trip down South was on the cards, so we packed the car and headed down to Southport, the weather in Cumbria was blue sky but as soon as we passed Kendal the fog and mist moved in and stayed with us all day.
At Southport there had been a few sightings of a Snow Bunting and so we went in search of the little chap ! After 40 mins of searching the shoreline, the grass, and the edges of the beach we had found nothing save a few Lapwings, Canada Geese and BH Gulls. Reluctantly we headed back to the concrete prominade and just as we were walking back, up popped the Snow Bunting, right on the edge of the beach , posing on the concrete ! After a few minutes it trundled off onto the sand, where it became clear why we hadnt seen it, once on the sand, it was pretty much invisible with its brown and white plummage blending in perfectly.
Happy to have found the Bunting and another tick in the book, we drove to Martin Mere for a quick explore. Martin Mere is half reserve and half park, the reserve is huge and well worth a visit, but the park is not for me, I’m no fan of caged non native birds ( or animals), so it was off to the hides.
We only had a short time, but the lake was packed with Whooper Swans, Bar Tailed Godwits, Pochard, Pintail ducks, Canada Geese, Greylag Geese and Pink Footed Geese. The edges of the lake were cover in Lapwings and there were even snipe and Ruff pottering about. All in all a great trip , all be it a brief one, we will be back for a better look as soon as the weather allows.
