Browse by Tags

With the wonderful weather we've had over the past few days, things have been busy down here at the reserve. Although the weather may have cooled down the bird action certainly hasn't with this morning bringing with it some brilliant views of a female marsh harrier and a male hen harrier , both...

No doubt many of you are already aware of what happened on Sunday afternoon, but for those who are not so local I’m sure you’ll be saddened by the news that a large area of the saltmarsh on the estuary went up in flames. Staff and volunteers from the reserve joined firefighters in a bid to...

Needless to say, Rhian's excited proclamation - upon the arrival of our first avocet of the year in mid-February - that spring was here, was a little premature. Since then we've had plenty more snow flurries, frozen pools and lots of gratitude for the stove in our reception hide. However, we've...

Soon nearly 8 million seabirds return to their breeding grounds on the UK’s coast and our seas will be alive with squabbling guillemots, groaning puffins and graceful fulmars. Whilst not a truly coastal reserve, the Dee Estuary is home to a sizeable black-headed gull colony and a variety of...

"The problem with gulls is that they all look the same", is a sentence that I commonly hear. Many different gulls look similar, and experienced birders learn to look for the subtle differences between species for proper gull identification. With the high degree of hybridization among gulls...

Yesterday we had a lesser scaup grace our meres, this great American duck is a very common sight across North America and gets its name from the its size difference from its cousin the scaup, or greater scaup. As the lesser is a tad smaller but in the UK when theses rare birds turn up this make them...

If you have a few days at home with the kids or grandchildren, then make a beeline for Dee! There is plenty of fun to be had this half term at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands with loads of activities and events for children. Kids will be delighted to take part in the events that will teach them all about...

Do you want to gain 6 months experience of working on one of the RSPB's best nature reserves? If so then our internship programme may just be for you ... we give you all the training and opportunities to get your foot in the door, just ask Austin Morley (RSPB Blogger). Click on this link to...

Tonight at 8pm on Stargazing LIVE, BBC 2 you can see a stunning short clip of around 10 seconds long of a stunning starscape taken by one of our very own volunteer Ron Thomas. You might never have thought about photographing the night sky before, but if you ever find yourself in a location with little...

Another excuse to let people know how well behaved one of our water rails is ....

Animals at the UK’s leading zoo are enjoying extra fresh and tasty mealtimes with the help of a local Cheshire nature reserve. RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands has teamed up with Chester Zoo to supply vegetation to feed a number of animals, including giraffes, rhinos and elephants. As part of Burton...

Come along to celebrate National Tree Week and plant your very own tree on Sunday 2 December. We have some lovely areas of mixed woodlands to explore and several new tree and hedge planting sessions have already taken place. National Tree Week is a fantastic event and we are pleased to be taking...

A minor piece of management work has paid off and a very confiding water rail is showing off right in front of the reception building. Our lovely wardens and volunteers spent yesterday cutting vegetation near to the reception building and I hope you agree that it was worth it

A ghostly grey figure has been haunting Burton Mere Wetlands on a regular basis and many visitors have seen it, in fact some have even photographed it ... But no need to worry if you're afraid of the dark this stunning male hen harrier is the culprit! He has been showing on and off throughout...

Hedgehogs are the gardener's friend, munching their way through those pesky slugs and snails. Sadly, it's estimated that a quarter of the hedgehog population has been lost in the last ten years. Snoozing hedgehogs will be in for a treat as Burton Mere Wetlands are holding a make your own hogitat...

It looks like the RSPBs Dee Estuary Nature Reserve is the place to be this autumn, we have had some spectacular birds passing through on the marsh and arriving at Burton Mere Wetlands. Three (two adult and one juvenile) common crane have been seen of the RSPB's Burton Point midweek, these magnificent...

Come down to Parkgate on the Dee Estuary for a good chance to see England’s rarest breeding bird of prey, the hen harrier. Two have already been sighted. Over the next six months the reserve is hosting In Search of Skydancers, a series of seven events, offering nature lovers the opportunity...

A long-staying pectoral sandpiper has been showing rather nicely on the main scrape out in front of the reception building for the best part of three weeks now. And is present at almost exactly the same time as last year ... it would be a nice birthday present if it remained until the 22/23 September...

Nature lovers are being invited to turn detective and help discover as many types of wildlife as possible living at RSPB Parkgate. From Friday 31 August the wetland nature reserve is hosting a “Bioblitz”, a large-scale wildlife stock take, where visitors will help spot the maximum number...

Its not only Team GB that have enjoyed a record haul of gold this past few weeks. Team Dee Estuary have four golds at the moment in the form of golden headed marsh harriers, not something I have experienced before here. As this excellent picture from Andy Davis shows they can easily be seen from...

If you believe the wading birds then perhaps it is ... or is it? Not many people know this but long distance migrating waders actually start returning to their wintering grounds in June! The evidence is clear here at Burton Mere Wetlands too as several spotted redshanks are present in full summer...

Have you got what it takes to become RSPB’s Dee Estuary’s first ever intern? The new RSPB visitor centre at Burton Mere Wetlands has welcomed thousands of visitors through its doors since it opened in September and now the visitor demand is so high that they need your help. A special...

Babies are a plenty down here at Burton Mere Woodlands despite the poor weather. All this rain may have been disastrous for some parts of the country but our ground nesting birds seemed to have fared well so far .... no doubt thanks to our quick thinking reserve staff who set the sluice gates to wide...

"Congratulations on the birth of your baby avocets" do greetings card companies make such a card? Sometime on Sunday, Burton Mere Wetlands' first ever avocet chicks hatched and instantly begun to steal the show. Three tiny grey, fluffy, long-legged, up-turned-billed chicks are unbelievably...

A few not-so-subtle changes have occured in the past week or two as the first summer visitors have arrived whilst most of the winter stayers have left. Several unmistakable sounds were noticed as I opened up the reserve this morning, firstly at least 3 chiffchaffs were singing - and yes that distinctive...