I spent most of Wednesday 18th in the Ron Barker Hide, where I think you took this photo. On Wednesdays and Saturdays this month, Martin Mere is staying open until late (7 pm) so that visitors can watch the starling murmuration and the geese coming in to roost. Only a few starlings were visible from this hide, but all the open water in this photo was eventually covered with roosting geese. It was utterly spectacular watching skein after skein flying in, some of them whiffling down almost vertically, and the noise was amazing. I have no idea of the numbers but WWT have reported up to 20 000 this week and I can quite believe it.
Well worth a visit if you can get there before dusk on one of the right days.
This photo was taken from the Harrier Hide (or perhaps the United Utilities Hide). I can't remember seeing any starlings, but I did see at least 10,000 geese (quite possibly more), the majority of which seemed to be heading away from the reserve to roost!
@Macaw16 You were looking west, so it must have been the United Utilities hide (which has windows at all points of the compass) if it wasn't the Ron Barker. The Harrier Hide faces south, which means that if the sun is shining it is very hard to see anything from it.
