Dee Estuary

In line with Government guidance on essential, daily exercise outdoors, during the third lockdown, Burton Mere Wetlands' car park, trails and toilets remain open for local, essential exercise only. Our visitor centre, hides, refreshments and mail-order shop will be closed for the duration of this lockdown. We are also not running events.

Please follow all current Government guidance around social distancing, who you…

Christmas will be different for all of us in many ways, and Burton Mere Wetlands’ opening hours over the next two weeks are also slightly altered from previous years too.

 Burton mere Wetlands in winter (Paul Jubb)

The reserve will be closed entirely on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, reopening on Sunday 27 December through to Sunday 3 January. We will then be closed on Monday 4 January and Tuesday 5…

Posted on behalf of Katie Ellis.

Recent sightings

It’s feeling very wintry now the temperatures have dropped to single figures and the days are at their shortest, but the cooler conditions have brought us some brilliant wildlife and dramatic sunsets. The feeders close to the visitor centre are buzzing with small woodland birds as they fill up each day to make it through the cold nights. A clever sparrowhawk is making…

This story begins back in 1986 when the very first piece of the Burton Mere Wetlands puzzle began with the purchase of 75 acres of low-lying, waterlogged arable fields at Inner Marsh Farm, historically reclaimed from the tidal estuary by the development of the Borderlands railway.

In 1988, the purchase of Burton Point Farm gave better access and became the reserve's operational hub, but the small team at that time still…

We’ve reached the end of the second lockdown and for some locals, Burton Mere Wetlands remaining open throughout was vital for them to get regular exercise, fresh air and see a few friendly faces – all at a safe distance, of course.

As we exit lockdown, Cheshire will be under Tier 2 local restrictions from Wednesday 2 December which means we are able to reopen some of the facilities that were closed during…

Posting on behalf of Katie Ellis

Recent sightings

Autumn is moving towards winter, the leaves disappearing off the trees and Burton Mere has seen lots of change in the last couple of weeks and not just due to the seasons. The visitor centre smells of fresh paint, there’s a new welcome cabin in the car park and the Inner Marsh Farm accessibility improvement project is close to completion; seemingly every day there’s been…

Posted on behalf of Katie Ellis

Recent Sightings

Autumn is now well underway; the days are drawing in and the temperature has dropped a few degrees. The car park and paths are lined with golden leaves as the oaks thin out and the elusive jays are busy gathering acorns for winter. With the normal seasonal changes, we’ve also seen changes to our daily lives with the introduction of a second lockdown in England. Fortunately…

We know that for many of you, Burton Mere Wetlands provides enjoyment and solace in the natural world throughout these challenging times. In line with Government guidance on essential, daily exercise outdoors, during the second lockdown, our car park, trails and toilets remain open for you to visit. Please follow all current Government guidance around social distancing, who you can visit with, hygiene and follow all signage…

Recent sightings

The last few weeks have seen regular visits from whooper swans on the main scrape and the odd visit from curlew sandpiper and green sandpiper. Other waders have been black-tailed godwits, lapwing, ruff, redshank, golden plover and lots of wonderful snipe.

Whooper swan: John Langley

Good sightings still of linnet, fieldfare, redwing, siskin, stonechat and bullfinch. The staff were lucky enough to catch a gorgeous…

Recent sightings

Since my last blog a few weeks ago there has been some very mixed weather. I only seem to recall the glorious sunny days that were a wash of colours across the reserve. The change of autumn leaves is in full swing no, and as you drive down our main track try not get distracted by the fantastic shades ochre and red.

Autumn leaves: Elizabeth Maddock

Raptors have been a little quieter on the reserve this…

If you enjoyed the July blog from volunteer Mark, here is the compilation of his reports from warden work parties over the last three months. Late summer and early autumn is always a busy time for reserve management work, between breeding season and the large winter assemblages of birds and this year was no different, especially with some tasks to catch up on after lots of work not being able to get done whilst the reserve…

Following on from our last access update five weeks ago which can be found here, we're pleased to announce a few more changes to improve your visit to the reserve this autumn.

After weeks of hard work by the warden team and volunteers cutting back the dense reeds and lush wet grassland surrounding it, Marsh Covert hide was ready to open to visitors on Saturday 3 October. Visitors are already grateful for the additional…

Blog posted on behalf of Katie Ellis:

Recent sightings

It’s certainly felt a lot more like autumn over the last couple of weeks, but with the change of seasons we’ve been treated to some fantastic sunsets and rainbows amongst the mix of sunshine, northerly winds and even hail! The birds have also been reminding us winter is on the way with the arrivals of whooper swan, redwing and modest starling murmurations…

Recent sightings

After a summer break whilst we got on top of running the reserve in a Covid-safe manner, here's a first update on the last few weeks as we've moved into autumn. Well, after thinking the weather was turning a bit cooler it’s been a stunning week here, with brilliant sunshine and fantastic wildlife.

Excitement wherever you look despite the lack of hides in use! If you’re seeking raptors, we…

It’s hard to believe it’s now eleven weeks since we tentatively re-opened Burton Mere Wetlands following the Covid-19 lockdown. As we slip from summer into autumn, here’s a thorough overview of what to expect when you visit.

After a relatively quiet start, we’ve seen a steady increase in the number of visitors each week, reaching full capacity of the car park’s limited spaces on a couple of sunny…

Since joining the warden volunteer work party team at the start of the year after relocating to this area, Mark has sent snippets and photos of what they've been getting up to across the reserve.

Back in mid-March, we did consider it could perhaps be the last volunteer work party for a good while, given the current circumstances. We spent the morning clearing bramble growth from the reserve footpaths and rebuilding…

Burton Mere Wetlands will be closed for the morning of Friday 10 July (tomorrow). This is to allow contractors to complete major urgent repairs to our telephone lines along our access track and car park. Work is expected to be completed by 12 noon allowing us to open for the afternoon.

Please see our Facebook (@RSPBBurtonMere) and Twitter (@RSPB_BurtonMere) pages for live information as they are more easily updated than…

Something a little different to our usual blog content, here our former site manager, Colin Wells shares a fascinating insight to some local botanical history, inspired by his coronavirus lockdown experiences.

Burton Point (Lynne Greenstreet)

During lockdown a daily early morning walk of mine has been along the Burton Marsh Greenway from Denhall Quay to Burton Point. I realize how lucky I am to have the estuary on my…

Image: Paul Jubb

Burton Marsh Greenway is re-opening today (Wednesday 20 May) after being temporarily closed.

We are delighted to re-open this permissive path (part of National Cycle Route 568) which provides people with green transport links while enjoying views across our RSPB Dee Estuary reserve. Sadly it had to be temporarily closed on 9 May due to a significant rise in anti-social behaviour.

We are very grateful for the patience and support…

Burton Mere Wetlands

Despite some very slight changes in lockdown restrictions in England, Burton Mere Wetlands remains closed to the public for now. Our priority is to ensure that we only re-open when we have everything in place to keep our members, visitors, volunteers and employees safe.

We must also make sure that the wildlife that calls our site home is ready to receive attention after a couple of months completely…

The RSPB Dee Estuary nature reserve is vast and complex, covering over 6000 hectares of varying wetland habitats making it the fifth largest RSPB reserve and the largest protected coastal wetland in the UK. Since 2011, Burton Mere Wetlands has become the much-loved heart of it all, but this series of blogs aims to lift the lid on some of the wilder, lesser known locations we manage.

Owing to its location just the other…

The RSPB Dee Estuary nature reserve is vast and complex, covering over 6000 hectares of varying wetland habitats making it the fifth largest RSPB reserve and the largest protected coastal wetland in the UK. Since 2011, Burton Mere Wetlands has become the much-loved heart of it all, but this series of blogs aims to lift the lid on some of the wilder, lesser known locations we manage.

After Burton Mere Wetlands, Parkgate…

Following the clear instructions from the Government on Monday evening for us all to remain at home apart from a limited number of allowed activities, we are closing our reserve to visitors until further notice.

This means we will close our car park, toilets, hides and trails to the public. These measures are on top of the earlier closure of our visitor centre. It is with great sadness that we ask people to refrain from…

Following the latest government advice we have made the difficult decision to close our visitor centre to visitors from 5pm on Thursday 19 March. This is to prioritise the health and welfare of our staff, volunteers and visitors.

These are difficult and unsettling times for all of us but we hope that nature can provide a welcome respite in whichever form and wherever you may encounter it. We want to do everything we can…