Dee Estuary

 This weeks blog was written by Matthew Scarborough our newest residential volunteer.

Recent sightings

Here at Burton Mere Wetlands we’ve had a great week for all sorts of birds. For waders there has been lovely views of thousands of lapwings as well as black-tailed godwit, curlew, dunlin, golden plover, ruff, redshank and snipe across the reserve but particularly well straight from the Visitor Centre.

Winter wildfowl…

Posted on behalf of Matt, our newest residential volunteer.

Hello there, I’m Matthew Scarborough. A young and driven conservationist with a love for the outdoors and everything in it. My journey has brought me here to the amazing Burton Mere Wetlands where I’ll be a residential volunteer for the foreseeing months.

                                                                      
                                                                Stood outside Burton Mere Visitor…

Recent sightings

Even with the slightly soggy and dank weather we’ve still been having some wonderful wildlife spectacles. It was waders galore on Thursday, with over 100 golden plover, 50+ dunlin, ruff, spotted redshank, 40+ snipe, over 4000 lapwing and over 1400 black-tailed godwit counted across the wet grassland and main scrape from the Bunker Hide area. 

Three bearded tits have been seen again on Wednesday first…

Recent sightings

Grab your binoculars, help yourself to a cuppa, and settle in for a frosty but fantastic week at Burton Mere Wetlands!

This week was off to a promising start on Monday, greeting us on the reserve with a crisp autumnal day and great visibility throughout, topped off by a stunning starling murmuration against a sublime sunset in the evening. The scrape was well-populated by black-tailed godwits and other waders…

Written by, and posted on behalf of volunteer Eliza...

Recent sightings

Slightly lower water levels on the main scrape have allowed the numbers of waders present to build up again, perhaps driven in by wet and windy weather. There are good numbers of black-tailed godwit showing alongside a few ruff, and a solitary green sandpiper was spotted at the back of the scrape. Plenty of teal are present as usual with shoveler and…

Hello! I'm Jess, the new residential volunteer here at Burton Mere. This is my first blog post. Enjoy!

Recent sightings

It has been a great week with the cattle egret returning after going missing for a week and the same with the bittern down at Parkgate which was seen again Wednesday. Parkgate can be a great spot at this time of year. If you head down late afternoon you may be lucky enough to spot the bittern coming into roost in the reedbed, along with short-eared owl, hen harrier and marsh harrier.

Speaking of egrets…

Recent sightings

Last weekend's heavy rainfall left us with higher than usual water levels across much of Burton Mere Wetlands this week. As a result, wildfowl were the dominant presence, namely the usual variety of teal, shoveler, wigeon, pintail, gadwall, and shelduck. Plenty of waders were still present, just pushed onto the wet grassland in shallower water with over 1000 black-tailed godwit present, vast flocks…

Recent sightings

With the mostly mild weather we have had this week there have been some lovely days filled with migrant hawker and common darter dragonflies along with loads of comma and red admiral butterflies basking in the sunshine.

Visitors are still seeing water voles in the ditches and from Marsh Covert Hide. Another little mammal, a weasel was photographed with its dinner earlier in the week.

Linnet, siskin, stonechat…

Recent sightings

Considering the very unpredictable weather the last couple of weeks the wildlife has been great! Still have dragonflies and some butterflies around. Stoat sightings on the rise along with water voles!

Migrant hawker dragonfly: Paul Jubb

Much of the same fantastic birds around since the last few weeks. Inner Marsh Farm Hide is the place to see waders in great numbers like the black-tailed godwits and

…

Recent sightings

What a wonderful bit of sunshine we have had this week. It has meant splendid sightings of dragonflies and butterflies like common darter and one of my personal favourites speckled wood butterfly.

Still some great waders around too. Up to fifteen ruff on the main scrape, loads of snipe peppered across the reserve and at times two little stints almost always with a flock of dunlin. Other waders included;…

Recent sightings

It has been an eventful week. With little stint still seen in the week on the main scrape and as I post this it has just turned up! Along with a good handful of other waders this week like little-ringed plover, greenshank, green sandpiper, ruff, snipe and dunlin.

Spot the snipe: Paul Jubb

Raptors have been good across Burton Mere Wetlands with hen harrier, marsh harrier, peregrine, sparrowhawk, buzzard…

Recent Sightings

Waders continue to steal the show, with regulars black-tailed godwit, lapwing, redshank, dunlin and big counts of snipe joined by ruff, greenshank, little ringed plover, green sandpiper, and common sandpiper plus small numbers of knot, ringed plover and turnstone pushed off the estuary by the big tides at the start of the week.

Snipe (P.Jubb)

The first pink-footed geese returned in mid-week, joining growing numbers…

Recent sightings

From the Greenway cycle path looking at Burton Point there has been a good view of little owl. Birds of prey over burton marsh have been pretty good with a hen harrier (ringtail) seen frequently, then marsh harrier, peregrine, sparrowhawk, kestrel and hobby are always a about if you spend a bit of time off Denhall Lane or down at Parkgate. Whinchat and Wheatear are another two little gems showing more…

Recent sightings

Yet another mixed unsettled week, with the weather reports always needing to be taken with a big pinch of salt here at Burton Mere Wetlands.

When the sun has made an appearance, the usual gorgeous butterflies have been out like painted lady, wall brown, speckled wood and fabulous dragonflies like southern hawker and emperor. The common lizards have also been catching the eye of our more observant young…

This weeks blog is being posted on behalf of Emma Drainey.

Recent sightings

This week marks the return of the geese onto the scrape with Canada geese and greylag geese both building in numbers. Snipe and water rail are also increasing in number with them being spotted on the scrape and at Marsh Covet Hide. A great egret has been making an appearance in and around the reception pool, joining the green sandpiper as an almost…

It only seems like yesterday that I posted Emma's first blog but this is her last week of her short stint as a residential volunteer here at the Dee Estuary reserve. Here's her farewell blog, rounding up her experiences and highlights from her time here.

I have spent just over two months here at Burton Mere Wetlands, half of that for dissertation research, and already my time as a residential volunteer is coming…

This weeks blog is being posted on behalf of Emma Drainey.

Recent sightings

The hot weather this week has let the butterflies and dragonflies steal the show, with peacock butterfly, brown hawker dragonfly and a hummingbird hawkmoth.

Image: Brown hawker by Neil Francis

Luckily the thunderstorms didn’t scare away any of the birds with great white egret juveniles still being seen with the adults. A spotted redshan…

This weeks blog is being posted on behalf of Emma Drainey.

Recent sightings

The waders this week have stayed consistent with avocet, lapwing and redshank all feeding up for their upcoming migrations. Green sandpiper and ruff have continued to hang around the scrape, with the spotted redshank remaining at Inner Marsh Farm hide. Once again, the Mediterranean gulls have been showing nicely, both adults and juvenile alike…

Recent sightings

A wealth of waders have decorated the reserve this week, with the breeding avocets gathering for migration, lapwings and redshank joined by south-bound black-tailed godwits, a couple of greenshank, single common and green sandpipers on Reception Pool, plus occasional ruff, little ringed plover, dunlin and snipe on the main scrape - all whetting the appetite for this year's Wirral Wader Festival, being held…

You may have noticed a new face around the place in the past month or so, and sure enough we have another residential volunteer on site! Emma wrote this introductory blog about what she initially came here for and how she's evolved into our latest resi-vol:

The end of my university semester saw me quickly move onto collecting data for my third year dissertation project which I had chosen to conduct here at Burton…

Recent sightings

Well the weather has finally turned for the better! This, and the resulting receding water level has seen the return of the avocets to the Main Scrape along with lots of feeding black-tailed godwits, lapwings and redshanks. We are still seeing broods of shovelers and adorable tufted ducklings on Reception Pool.

Avocets by Paul Jubb

After last week's appearance of a fourth spoonbill, they mysteriously went…

Every keen birdwatcher needs a good pair of birdwatching binoculars. Whether you've just discovered a love for birding, or you've been a keen birder for years, we have a fantastic range of binoculars to suit everyone, even kids!

Children are some of the most enthusiastic birders, so getting them their very own pair of binoculars is a great way of encouraging their interest in nature. Kid's binoculars can be…

As we’re just about to install some new signs on the reserve, we’d like to remind all visitors of Burton Mere Wetlands’ opening hours.

Despite the new signs, opening times are the same as they have been since we opened in 2011; the site opens to visitors at 9am, with the visitor centre opening at 9.30am.

Recently we have had an increasing number of visitors arriving before 9am and queuing outside the…

Recent sightings

A changeable week of weather meant a lot less activity from our colourful winged insects, but the birds once again did not disappoint. The three spoonbills are still present, and have spent a lot of time on Bridge Pool offering good views from Marsh Covert hide and Bridge screen, but also still spending time in the treetops. One cattle egret was also on Bridge Pool for much of Wednesday, with another…