After dipping on Whimbrel, Yellow Wagtail and common rhea (really!) we found ourselves at Martin Mere as the weather turned sour.

Highlights were a pale Buzzard atop a fence post at Martin Mere and a darker one soaring near Burscough. A pair of Little Ringed Plovers were my first of the year, a greater spotted woodpecker visited the feeders at the Janet Kear hide, and I was fairly sure it was a Merlin that spooked the gulls on the Mere when we were in the In Focus shop. That’s a big deal at this time of year and I’m only about 90% sure.