Recent sightings
What a great week we’ve had at Burton Mere jam packed with highlights! The spoonbills have still been around for the most of the week (until Thursday) usually flying in later in the morning. One of the juveniles appears to be getting very independent as usually comes and joins the family later in the day after it has been out exploring for itself. We also had the first curlew sandpiper of the autumn on Monday which has stayed around Inner Marsh Farm hide for the rest of the week and joined by another individual on Friday. There have been good numbers of other waders this week too with seven spotted redshanks and seven greenshanks at Inner Marsh Farm hide on Friday.
(Spoonbills flying away, John Hewitt)
On Tuesday there was a high tide so we took to Parkgate to see what it brought in. Plenty of redshank, greenshank, black-tailed godwit, dunlin and lapwing were seen on the Donkey Stand Flash as well as marsh harriers and kestrel flying by. Back at Burton Mere Wetlands duck numbers have been great this week as well with counts of 700 pintail and 1700 teal, likely to have also been pushed in by the tide. Great raptor sightings are also continuing with close views of hen harriers and marsh harriers from reception. Kingfisher sightings are also still increasing. On Wednesday we had two tree sparrows which are very rare for the reserve and the Wirral in general. Star Sighting
The star sighting this week is without question the spotted crake! This is the third spotted crake we have had this year however the first two were only seen far off at the back of the main scrape. This sighting, however, is definitely giving the best views yet as it is right under your nose at Reception Pool. First seen on Tuesday it soon drew a crowd and has been showing well every day since. It has mostly been in the reeds and around the willow on the right hand side of Reception Pool however on Sunday it decided to take a trip over to the left hand side! Its back to its usual spot today though so there is still time to come down and try spot it for yourself.
(Spotted Crake at Burton Mere Wetlands, Paul Samuels)
Wardens Wanderings
This week we welcomed our new assistant warden, Liz! She has been busy this week being inducted to the site and her new role. On Sunday she had her first experience of the saltmarsh as a team of volunteers ventured out on a litter pick as part of the Big Dee Day event. Some other general maintenance jobs have been going on including tidying up the car park, making the parking bays more visible and clearing vegetation as well as painting the bridge around the meres to preserve it against rust. Get Involved
We have finished our badger watches for the year now but the badger hide is still available to hire if you are interested in getting a up close view of these otherwise hard to see creatures. Email: deeestuary@rspb.org.uk for details. We have lots of autumn events coming up over the next few months. You can join us for our ‘What’s that wader?’ guided walk on 7 October at 8:30am. We also have a special Halloween themed family quiz trail starting on Sunday 21 October. Not forgetting our Dusk Chorus walk on 10 November beginning at 3pm