Recent sightings
Inner Marsh Farm hide remains the place to be this week with lots of exciting waders around; up to seven curlew sandpipers, over 50 golden plover, ruff, dunlin, lapwing, black-tailed godwit, five green sandpipers and plentiful snipe. One day we were lucky enough to have all three egrets together (cattle egret, great white egret and  little egret) at in front of the hide.

Curlew sandpiper (Anthony Lovatt)

Recent sightings

As September draws to an end there is that feel of Autumn in the air here on the reserve. Despite the cooler mornings, the sightings have not disappointed. There have been some great sightings this past week, cracking views of some of our raptors including marsh harrier, peregrine, and still a late hobby! Close to being this week's star sighting was a young male hen harrier, giving fantastic views…

August went by like a whirlwind. The month started with ragwort pulling out on the main scrape. Ragwort is a native plant but is poisonous to livestock, mostly horses but also cattle. The cattle usually avoid it when it is still alive and growing however once it dies and dries out the cattle may eat it as it is mixed in with the surrounding grass. Ragwort is also an 'injurious weed' so if you have it on your land you…

Recent sightings
The spotted crake was still around at the beginning of the week but has now not been seen since Monday. The windy weather started on Tuesday which might have caused the spotted crake to stay sheltered in the reeds. The rain we have had has also meant the reception pool is much fuller and there are less areas of exposed mud which would also deter the spotted crake from coming out.

The reserve had to…

Hi folks, 

We've cleared the paths of storm debris, so are delighted to say we're back open! Come on down to see what the storm might have blown in....

See you soon!

I have been kept very busy since returning from my adventure on Skomer Island, still enjoying gaining valuable experience working practically on the warden team and working on the visitor operations side.

August started off with a great opportunity accompanying Katie, our membership development officer, to an event at nearby Ness Botanic Gardens. I was very keen to see how off-site events work and to get out and about engaging…

Unfortunately, due to the stormy conditions, we have temporarily had to close the reserve today for public safety. We ask that visitors do not try to access Burton Mere Wetlands. We're hoping that normal opening will resume tomorrow, provided the weather has calmed down, but we will update this blog, and our Twitter and Facebook pages once we know.

Thank you for your co-operation. 

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…

Assistant Warden Ash Radford writes about this year's breeding season at Woolston Eyes. It’s been a year of ups and downs at Woolston with lots to be positive about in terms of breeding success. Read on to find out how our birds did this year and discover what makes Woolston eyes so special and why the RSPB is working with the Woolston Eyes Conservation Group to help manage their reserve.

For those who don…

Recent sightings

The week started well at Burton Mere Wetlands with single hobby, greenshank, Cetti’s warbler and four yellow wagtails the highlights amongst the resident cattle egret, a good count of shoveler (112) on the main scrape and the long-staying green and common sandpipers close to Reception Hide on Reception Pool.

On Tuesday, two spotted flycatchers were found on the railway embankment adjacent to Burton…

Recent sightings

The redstart and spotted flycatchers are still showed well this week. The ruddy shelduck is sticking around and we're getting great views of both common and green sandpiper in front of reception hide.  In addition we had a lovely close up sighting of a yellow wagtail in front of Reception Hide bobbing around on the mud and in the edge of the pool!

Juvenile redstart (John Hewitt)

Wonderful waders 

Recent sightings
The juvenile redstart has still been showing well this week up at Burton Point and was also joined by some adult birds making it 3 redstarts in total now. The ruddy shelduck has continued to be around this week too along with the green sandpiper and common sandpiper which are being seen nice and close most days right outside the reception hide. It is really nice to see these two species so close together…

Recent sightings
The week started with a raptor extravaganza with kestrel, hobby, marsh harrier and three peregrines spotted on Monday. Tuesday continued to be an exciting day with a sighting of a juvenile spotted flycatcher around the far end of the meres. A juvenile redstart was also showing well up at Burton Point around the water trough in the sheep field. Some beautiful yellow wagtails were flitting around at the…

Recent Sightings

The wood sandpiper was still showing well on Monday but has unfortunately not been spotted since then. A common sandpiper arrived on Tuesday though which was a nice sight. Spotted redshank numbers are still increasing and there were as many as 14 snipe counted this week. There is still at least 2 avocet being seen around the reserve too.

The cattle egret is still showing well, clearly happy now we have…

June was a very busy month! On the reserve lots of work was being done on the paths as everything was growing so quickly and needed to be cut back to maintain access. Lots of days were spent cutting and raking different sections with volunteer work parties.

I also took part in the final redshank surveys for the year which involved walking back and forth across two study plots out on the saltmarsh looking and listening…

Recent sightings

The wader variety of last week continued into this, with growing flocks of black-tailed godwits and lapwings across Burton Mere Wetlands, coupled with a few spotted redshanks, ruffs, little ringed plovers, green sandpiper, and on Friday, the arrival of a single wood sandpiper which stayed throughout the weekend to the time of writing.

Wood sandpiper (left) and green sandpiper (right) from Marsh Covert…

Recent Sightings

As the warm, dry weather continued to hold, the water level gradually dropped further offering plenty of mud for the increasing variety and number of wading birds around. Whilst we are down to our last handful of avocets as they return south for the winter, flocks of lapwings and black-tailed godwits continue to grow.

Meanwhile, a great selection of migrant waders continue to star, including up to three…

Something that the majority of us can agree on, is how great it feels to get outside and wander around in the great outdoors. Breathing in the fresh air, idolising the giant canopies of green trees providing shelter from the hot sun. The colourful, scented flowers pushing up towards the light out of the sodden earth, the bees searching through them for their sweet nectar. And when summer and autumn have come to a close…

Recent sightings

As last week, the wader variety is one of the current highlights, with up to five spotted redshanks, five ruffs, and six little ringed plovers around. Visitors also enjoyed good views of snipe, green sandpiper and common sandpiper, with a peak of 17 dunlins also notable. A single grey plover was seen from Inner Marsh Farm hide on Wednesday, a scarce record for Burton Mere Wetlands although numerous on…

Our residential volunteer, Alice took a break from Burton Mere Wetlands last month to take on another short placement monitoring charismatic Manx shearwaters in Wales. Here's her account of an unforgettable experience getting involved with some lesser-known but vitally important conservation work to save our sensational seabirds.

Skomer is a beautiful island off the coast of Pembrokeshire, south west Wales. Owned…

Over the past few days, our warden team has carried out some much needed work on the Reedbed trail at Burton Mere Wetlands, raising the surface layer to reduce the risk of puddles and flooding in the wet winter months.

However the current hot, dry weather has left the new material looser than the finish on the rest of the reserve trails; as a result, visitors with wheelchairs and pushchairs may have difficulty using…

I have been on the Dee Estuary for two months now and since my last blog spring has definitely sprung! There are avocet chicks everywhere and I have been continuing to do brood counts now the eggs have hatched. Butterfly transects are another weekly job and plenty of dragonflies and damselflies are seen along the way. The red-eyed damselflies are really impressive and its good to see them in such big numbers at Burton…

Recent sightings

All the usual warblers can still be heard, and seen with patience, including the lesser whitethroat family around the wet woodland on the Inner Marsh Farm trail. Around the Main Scrape, avocet chick numbers peaked at 48 this week, with only a low level of predation from kestrel particularly. Mediterranean gulls are still present amongst the black-headed gulls.

One cattle egret, in full breeding plumage…

Recent sightings

The week started well with a cattle egret making friends with the newly-arrived cows in the field adjacent to the reserve near Bunker Screen. This herd will graze the wet grassland areas of the reserve once the breeding season is over.

Amongst the growing number of avocet chicks, a pair of Mediterranean gulls is another highlight on the Main Scrape. Single drake pintail and wigeon were unseasonal sightings…