Dee Estuary

The warm dry sunny weather has encouraged all the wildlife at BMW including birds, plant life and insects, and the reserve is looking beautiful.

Will they/ won’t they?

Two very different species have ben seen making nesting attempts on the reserve.  The Spoonbills have been photographed in full breeding plumage, collecting nesting material, and taking it into the trees where the Grey Herons and Little Egrets breed…

Although the sunny weather did not stay around for the Easter period, Spring has definitely come to Burton Mere Wetlands.  The Bluebells are out in the woodland areas and the Marsh Marigolds are providing a bright splash of yellow along the boardwalks.

Recent sightings.

 Waders are still being seen in good numbers, with Knot roosting among the Black-tailed Godwits, and sightings daily of Bar-tailed Godwits,

 Spotted…

 Recent Sightings.

The last two weeks have seen the continued arrival of our summer breeders, mixing with our winter visitors who have not yet left for their breeding areas.

Among the winter visitors 23 Whooper Swans visited the main scrape on 19 March for a rest, wash and preen before departing north together with 12 Ruff. ( Whooper Swans seen again on 29 March)

Whooper Swans   (J. Rogers)

The Bittern was again seen and…

An update on visitor facilities at Burton Mere Wetlands

To ensure our longer-term sustainability, the RSPB has been reviewing its operations across the UK so that everything we do aligns to our charitable and strategic aims and delivers the most impact for nature possible, within the resource we have. We focus on what we do best and where we can do this most effectively, with the resources available to us.   

Our most recent…

Recent Sightings

Spring has come to the reserve with birds arriving and buds bursting.

The Bluebells in the Woodland areas are beginning to shoot and by the end of this month should be starting to flower.

Our Avocet numbers have increased to nearly over 120 and our various goose and swan species are building their nests.

Avocets   (J. Hewitt)

Star Sightings

The most exciting news has been the presence of Bittern. 

Headline News.

Our first Avocets have arrived.  14 birds were seen early on the morning of 21 Feb, corresponding with the arrival of a southerly wind and much warmer air.

Avocets on Reception Pool.  (J. Hewitt)

Until the end of this week it has continued to be cold in February, but thankfully there have been no more storms and it has been somewhat drier.  Our visitors have continued to enjoy the warmth from the fire in…

After the snow, storms and floods of Nov. and Dec. the year ended with a couple of foggy days, but visibility was not bad enough to stop some good sightings.

The first day of January was a fine day for all those starting their year lists, and so too Jan 2.  However, the weather was again to take a turn for the worse, causing the reserve to shut on Sun. 6 Jan due to snow and since then roads around Burton Mere Wetlands…

After the snow in November, it was the weather warnings of Storm Darragh that led to us shutting the reserve entirely on 7 December, but thankfully the damage was minimal and the large tree that came down in the woodland did not block the driveway. So, it was back to normal on 8 December after ensuring all was safe.  The rain has meant that water levels became a little high again, but dry weather this week has helped it…

Recent Sightings

Winter came to the reserve this week with snow on the ground on Tues 19 Nov. However, visits to Burton Mere Wetlands can be enjoyed whatever the weather with a roaring fire going in the visitor centre and warming hot food in the café.

The contractors have now finished all the work on the scrapes, and the birds are enjoying the new islands and scrape edges. The raptors have been busy with slightly…

The most significant activity around the reserve in the last couple of weeks has been the work carried out on the three main scrapes, involving reprofiling the edges and islands and creating new islands.  This started on Centenary and Bridge pools before moving to the main scrape in front of the visitor centre.  Whilst the far areas were being worked on the waders and ducks were concentrated on the main scrape but moved…

Recent Sightings 

More wet weather plus very high tides on the estuary have meant that water is not draining into the river, and water levels on the scrape remain stubbornly high. However, a positive side of the flooding out on the saltmarsh is the high count of wintering duck species.

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Star Sightings   

An early morning count, on the flooded saltmarsh, Oct 22, recorded 4000 Pintail, 5000 Wigeon, 1600 Teal and 175…

It’s Autumn on the reserve, and colours are starting to change, but the warm, wet weather means that there are still lots of leaves on the trees.  Most of the summer visitors have left, but some have now become resident, and we get other visitors stopping off on their way south.

Star Sightings   

At least one Yellow-browed Warbler has been seen around the reserve during the last week and we had a visit from a single…

As usual this year the weather has been at its most unpredictable. After returning to some lovely sunny days during week ending 21 September, we are back to constant rain.  Despite having all 10 of our sluice gates open, water levels have remained very high, and the muddy margins around the pools that we try to have for the migrating waders have not been there.

Star Sightings   

After having lots of Black-tailed Godwit…

Recent Sightings

Autumn seems to have arrived suddenly, with a lot of wet and windy weather in the last two weeks. Whilst no rarities have turned up there has been plenty of activity on the reserve.

Star Sightings 

Our raptors have been busy with frequent sightings of Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel and still occasional views of Hobby and even Merlin out on the marsh. We hope it won’t be long before we also…

Recent Sightings

The weather has been somewhat mixed in the last two weeks, and the excitement of the Hudstonian Godwit’s visit to the reserve has passed.

However there have been plenty of other waders visiting on there way south from their breeding areas, and our winter visitors begin to arrive.

Star Sightings 

The MEGA rare bird, the “HUDSONIAN GODWIT” revisited Burton Mere Wetlands on Sun 18 and Mon 19 August…

Star Sightings 

The MEGA rare bird, found late on Monday evening on our reserve was a “HUDSONIAN GODWIT. This is a North American bird and only the 10th record in the UK. The last recorded sighting was on Shetland in 2023, and the last in England was in Somerset in 2015.  This Godwit is slightly smaller than our regular Black-tailed Godwits and much darker in plumage with a noticeable black underwing.

Photo.  D. Ki…

After all the wet and windy weather this summer we have finally had a few hot days.  This has led to increased butterfly sightings and the Common Lizards have been sunning themselves.

Common Lizard                                                                        photo J. Hewitt

Star Sightings 

Only one Avocet remains, but the Little Egrets have been seen gathering on the around the pool in numbers.

Little Egrets                                                            Photo…

 Summer has finally arrived at BMW, and all are enjoying the warm sunny weather.  The young birds are fledging, and the Butterflies, Moths and Dragonflies finally being seen more often. On the Mere the waterlilies are providing a fine display.

Star Sightings 

The Avocets are now assembling in numbers on the main scrape, prior to moving south.  Many of the UK breeding birds winter on the estuaries around South Wales and…

The weather hasn’t been what we expect in June, not all wet but chilly and windy most of the time. This has meant that the sightings of Butterflies and Dragonflies have been restricted to the better weather periods, but a lot of our photographer visitors have been busy getting photos of some more unusual insect species hiding in the lush vegetation. Amongst the vegetation Marsh Orchids, Bee Orchids and a Pyramidal Orchid…

The recent changeable and at times very wet weather has not prevented some good sightings on the reserve. This includes Butterflies, Damselflies, Dragonflies, Lizards, as well as Yellow Flag Iris and many Marsh Orchids.

Yellow Flag Iris and many Marsh Orchids by S.Ryde

Birds of Prey are being seen regularly, including our breeding Marsh Harriers, Hobby, Sparrowhawk, Peregrine, Kestrel, and an occasional fly past of…

Despite the devastation caused by the Badger on the main scrape birds are still being recorded in good numbers on the reserve. All the common warblers are being heard as you walk the footpaths and the some more unusual visitors have been noted.

Other than the birds, visitors can look out for the lizards, butterflies and dragonflies which are showing well, and we are seeing the start of the Orchid season.

Star Sighti…

Monday morning in Burton Mere Wetlands’ office always means reflecting on the prior week, and weekend in particular. However, as enjoyable as the first true taste of summer has been, the weather was far from the most significant feature of the past weekend.

It is impossible to ignore the fact that the classic spring scene of the main scrape and its surrounds diminished over the past few days. After suspicions that…

Posted on behalf of Sheila Ryde - Communications Volunteer

The weather in the last two weeks of April was not very spring like, but our breeding birds are around in good numbers.  The first youngsters are about with families of Mallard, Coot, Long-tailed Tits and the first Lapwing chick has been seen. The Black-headed Gulls are sitting on the islands on the main scrape, together with a around six pairs of Mediterranean…

As usual in the UK, the main topic of conversation seems to revolve around the weather. Is it just my imagination or has there been none stop cold, high winds coming in from the North for the whole month? We’ve certainly felt it in the Visitor Centre, and there has been many a day when the fire has been on. I don’t want to think what it must have been like for an Avocet to attempt to breed in this weather…