Happy New Year to you all! It’s been a busy week here at Burton Mere Wetlands with plenty of birders and families alike opting to take advantage of the fine weather and seek fresh air and freedom after the inevitable Christmas over-indulgences. As a result there have been lots of keen eyes to gather sightings from around the reserve, so it’s time for an update.
An exciting development of this winter is that Reception Pool is attracting good numbers of shoveler for excellent close views, as well as smaller numbers of teal, tufted duck, mallard, gadwall and currently a single female pochard, a notable rarity for the reserve. Water rail, snipe, green sandpiper, redshank and kingfisher make brief appearances here too, whilst stonechat pairs flit between stems of rush and reed along the pool edge.
The Main Scrape is dominated by larger flocks of the aforementioned ducks, plus at times several hundred wigeon grazing the islands. Canada and greylag geese are the most likely seen here through the day but pink-footed geese are regularly seen flying over between the estuary and nearby farmland. Lapwing, black-tailed godwit and redshank are the mainstays of the wading birds here, though this week has seen flocks of curlews, dunlins and golden plovers too.
Winter is a prime time for birds of prey; up to 11 marsh harriers have been counted roosting at Neston Reedbed and up to six at a time have been hunting over the reedbed and wet grassland at Burton Mere Wetlands. One of the male hen harriers made an appearance on Thursday and Friday, always fabulous to see. Kestrel, buzzard and sparrowhawk are present daily, whilst peregrine and merlin make occasional appearances, one of the latter on Tuesday perching for a few minutes in an oak tree behind the main toilet block giving sensational views!
Along the Burton Mere Trail, siskins can be found in the tops of alder trees near the feeding station by the picnic benches, whilst goldcrests and chiffchaff are other highlights. Nuthatch and treecreeper and great spotted woodpecker are ever present but often require a little more patience to track down, much like the elusive yet regularly reported kingfisher. At the Reedbed Screen, a water rail was showing well in midweek when much of the open water was frozen, and two Cetti’s warblers are regularly heard and seen in the vicinity.
Highlights at the Marsh Covert Hide include up to three ruff and still two water pipits in amongst numerous meadow pipits. The fields adjacent to the Farm and Fen Trail currently host flocks of redwings and fieldfares, which can also be found up on Burton Point along with green woodpecker. A scan of the marsh from the end of the Hillfort Trail can offer views of great white egret, short-eared owl and further chance of both harrier species.
Redwing by Tony Lovatt
The Inner Marsh Farm trail has a pair of bullfinches at the north end towards the top bench, whilst the lower section approaching the Inner Marsh Farm Hide is a good spot for long-tailed tits and more goldcrests. Elsewhere, latest counts of the swan flock on Shotwick Fields West was around 90 mute swans, 47 whoopers and at least 7 Bewick’s.
Now you know what you can expect to see, you may also be interested in our upcoming events this month, of which there are plenty. We’ve teamed up with Wirral Borough Council for a Hilbre Low Tide Birdwatch on Saturday 7 January, followed by a Hoylake High Tide Birdwatch a week later. Places are limited and booking is essential for the Hilbre event, by contacting us at Burton Mere Wetlands.
As we gear up toward the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch at the end of the month, we have a Big Farmland Bird Walk guided walk taking in the farmland and wet grassland areas of Burton Mere Wetlands, for closer views of the linnets, reed buntings and even the aforementioned swans. On the same day, our Get ready for Big Garden Birdwatch event is a perfect way to brush up on your bird ID and make a birdcake to attract more feathered friends into your garden ready for your count.
Finally, our monthly Raptor Watch events start again at Parkgate on the last Sunday of the month. Click the links to reach the details for each event, or feel free to enquire at Burton Mere Wetlands at any time.