I had my first outing on Sunday and visited the beautiful Burton Mere reserve with my boyfriend. I was greeted by a very friendly lady who told me how to get around the reserve and also that they have just had a sighting of a short eared owl! I certainly picked a good day! I managed to catch a glimpse of the owl flying low over the reeds but I need to invest in a better pair of binoculars. Even so, we stayed in the main hide for a bit and my sightings included widgeons, canadian geese, pink footed geese, godwins, lapwings, shelducks and coots! I know most of my fellow members will have seen this many times but I was so excited to be so close to the birds! We then took a walk to the new hide and I saw a lovely little stone chat landing on top of the reeds! What startled me was as we were walking to the hide, out of no-where, 2 blue tits fell to the floor literally right in front of us. I thought they were injured but it turned out they were squabbling and they quickly got up and carried on their argument somewhere in one of the trees! Everyone I bumped into at Burton Mere was so friendly and it was really enjoyable listening to the experienced birders who have obviously been following the birds for many years. I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed my visit and will definitely be visiting again (hopefully with new binoculars!). Jo x
Jo x
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Sounds as though you had a great time Jo. You certainly saw a lot of birds. Your blue tit story reminds me of a Bee-Eater that literally crashed into my legs here in Oman as it chased a butterfly. Not sure who was more startled
Andrew
Glad you had a nice time Jo. It is a lovely place to go and all the people are very friendly. Hope you get a new pair of binoculars for next time :) There has been sightings of a Kingfisher down at the ponds but we haven't seen it yet. That is our mission for this year.
Inner Marsh Farm on the opposite side of Burton Mere is also well worth a visit. The visitor centre isn't as posh but the birds are every bit as good. You don't get the sun in your eyes either :)
Oh , and if you ever get around to using a scope and clamp it will actually fit the shelf unlike the shelf in the "purpose built" new visitor centre at Burton :(
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Hi everyone,
I had a lovely day and I cant wait to go again. Wow Amanda, a kingfisher - incredible! I read somewhere about a lady who in 70 years of birdwatching she was yet to see a kingfisher! My dad has got a good pair of binoculars so before I buy a new pair I might test his out and see what they're like.
How funny Andrew that the birds can become so distracted with whatever they're doing that they dont even notice us humans!
Hi Galatas, a friendly lady was talking to me about Inner Marsh Farm and she said the same, how it is worth a visit. I didnt get to see the "old" centre but I may be a long way off getting a telescope just yet! :-(
Jo
What a great place! As a regular at Inner Marsh Farm its great to see a much larger area of the marsh being opened up and provided with hides. Great idea to make the second hide double sided as well. One problem though, and one which wouldn't be difficult to put right. The shelf below the windows is too low, especially in the second hide. If you rest your elbows on it to steady the binoculars, you very quickly get a ricked neck because the angle is wrong. The old Inner Marsh Farm hide shelf is fine, so are the hide shelves at Leighton Moss where we are also regulars. I reckon that moving the shelf up to the bottom of the windows would vastly improve posture and comfort. Alternatively, cutting 3" off the bench seat legs would do the same job. Has anyone else spotted this?
Yes. Also the shelf in the visitor centre has a lip along the front edge which prevents scope clamps from fitting properly. Next time I go I shall take a small piece of 3/8th thick plywood to put under the shelf behind the lip. It's like having to put beer mats under wobbly pub tables :)
Really glad you enjoyed your visit Jo and thank you for the positive comments.
As for the "improvements", you can be assured that the lip in the reception building will be corrected. In the meantime if you want a piece of wood to help with your clamp then just ask a member of staff. In the interest of balance not all clamps operate on the same system.
As for the Marsh Covert hide the shelf is low in order to allow people of all sizes and abilities to rest their elbows.
Also I think its worth noting that the hide at Inner Marsh Farm is not immune to the effects of the Sun it is affected in the morning as it faces almost due east.
Visited for the first time myself this morning! Really impressed and will be back! Everyone was very firendly - but knew when to leave one alone too. Saw lots - learnt lots! And coffee very welcome! Thank you!
Thanks for the info about the shelf height in the Marsh Covert hide Paul. I can see that making it low enough for wheelchair users and children is a great aim and to be applauded. However "One size fits all" doesn't actually work for all because the size range of the human species is quite large! The result is that the shelf is too low for probably the majority of adult users to comfortably rest their elbows without leaning sharply forward with the neck bent back - an uncomfortable and potentially painful posture. Sufferers from neck arthritis will be particularly affected. Other reserves such as Leighton Moss and Martin Mere provide different height options in their hides and this could be easily achieved at Buton Marsh. One idea would be to saw 3" (8cm) off the legs of some of the stool benches. Simples! I'm sure there are other good ideas out there.
Hi Philbird, we take on board your concerns ... trust me I'm 6'2" and I don't think there has ever been a hide that I've been comfortable in including the hides at Leighton Moss.
The sawing legs idea probably has one drawback as it would certainly cause taller users to excessively bend the knees putting pressure on them and the rest of the legs.
As you mentioned there is no one sixe fits all solution but at least the windows are tall allowing you to stand and view the wildlife with your bins/scope. This was the idea to reduce the need for all the different height windows/benches problem which, can mean that children and users of wheelchairs are excluded from certain positions within the hide. Not good especially when that excluding position has the best view!