The Pied Piper ?

A trip to WWT Martin Mere today. I should definitely have taken another layer of clothing, it was biting cold.

I took plenty of pics, and some good ones of individual birds, but I like this one.

At 3pm a reserve warden feeds the birds in font of one of the hides. The ducks, geese and swans know it’s going to happen, so before he heads out with his wheelbarrow of seed, numbers build up. These are birds who like a routine. There are lots of mallard, numbers of shelduck and greylag geese, a few swans, wigeon and pochard, and representing the waders a few black tailed godwit. And feral pigeons. (These are the bolder species. The shy pink footed geese, for example, stay on the surrounding fields). As the warden passes the birds crowd back onto dry land to hoover up the seed. It’s quite a sight.

In the other direction a crowd of whooper swans and greylag geese are feasting on potatoes donated by local farmers. West Lancashire is one of the most fertile parts of the UK, with a relatively mild climate and rich soils in which a whole range of vegetables are grown. But the supermarkets want potatoes (and other root crops) of a certain size and shape, those which don’t make the grade are discarded (it’s really wasteful). So farmers donate the unwanted product to the reserve for free. It’s a win-win thing. The WWT and the birds get free food. And this supplementary feeding keeps many of the birds off the farmers fields.