Delight as rare goslings hatch at Martin Mere
FOUR Spur-winged goose goslings have hatched at Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Martin Mere Wetland Centre.
The Spur-winged goose is one of the rarest birds in captivity.
Martin Mere has a pair of Spurwinged geese and is the only location in the north of England where you can see them – the only other location is a wildfowl collection in Sussex.
Heralding from Africa, this goose is not rare in the wild but Martin Mere is one of the only places in this country where you can see them up close.
The last time Martin Mere reared Spur-winged goslings was back in 2007 when 10 hatched.
Grounds manager Steve Nasir said: “The Spur-winged geese are magnificent birds,
“I am absolutely delighted and very excited about breeding these birds – it will actually be the first time I have ever been involved with rearing Spur-winged.
“Not only do we get comments that they look like dinosaurs but the male has sharp spurs that are over an inch long on their wings.
“They use these spurs in defence and it is the only bird that has a risk assessment in the Martin Mere grounds.”
What makes them even more unusual is that in the wild the Spur-winged geese will eat blister beetles which have a poison called Canthardin.
This poison builds up as toxins in the body, which actually makes the birds poisonous to eat.
The goslings are now two weeks old and will soon be available to see in the duckling nursery.
In other news at the centre, there are more than 6,000 pink-footed geese on the reserve that have travelled in from Iceland.
The mere will be expecting up to 30,000 to arrive over the next couple of weeks and every Wednesday and Saturday there are late night openings until 7pm.
After 5.30pm visitors can come onto the nature trail free to watch the last hour of the spectacle – just follow the signs when you get to the car park.
WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre is open every day (except Christmas Day) from 9.30am to 6pm during summer months and parking is free of charge.
Situated off the A59, it is signposted from the M61, M58 and M6.
The centre is also accessible via the Southport to Manchester and Liverpool to Preston line by train from Burscough railway stations.
Visit the website http://www.wwt.org. uk/martinmere/ to find out what’s on all year round at Martin Mere and the other eight WWT wetland centres.