Living World by Ron Freethy THE PINK footed geese are now returning to their wintering grounds at Martin Mere but on the day of my visit last week I found the resident moorhens providing the surprise of this autumn. All over the 360 acres of the reserve there were moorhens with both adults and young in evidence. Then came the real surprise a moorhen was still sitting on its nest keeping three youngsters warm. This behaviour in October is astounding. There is always plenty of food around at Martin and this means that the young birds will have no trouble surviving the winter. I spent some time trying to photograph the moorhens and there is no doubt that the reserve is a perfect place to try out your skills.

From now until the end of November there is an exhibition of the work of local wildlife photographers. If you fancy buying a picture prices range from £10 to £35 and although the standard varies there is not a single poor photograph in the exhibition. If you fancy your chances of having a wildlife photograph published in BEN then let me see your work. Any picture used will result in a smashing bird book as the prize. There is always something going on at Martin Mere and as many as 20,000 pink footed geese can be seen any day from now until March. The pink-feet have been coming to West Lancashire for centuries. They fly at approximately 40 mph and take only 15 hours to arrive at Martin Mere after a journey of 600 miles from the north.

The reserve provides the birds with a safe environment after the hazards of their epic journey during which they may experience setbacks ranging from storms to finding themselves blow off course. But the disadvantages are outweighed by the advantage to be gained by the abundance of food provided by the reserve.

Feeding thousands of hungry wildfowl is a daunting task. Reserve Manager Chris Tomlinson has been working tirelessly during the summer months making sure that the reserve will be able to sustain the influx of the pink footed geese and later over 1,000 whooper and berwick swans will be arriving.

Martin Mere's food bill comes to around £30,000 per year and even then the winter staff rely on donations of bread and vegetables from local farmers and many supermarkets are always happy to help out.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.