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"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...

Dear All It has been a while! I have just returned from our warden welly walk around the back of IMF2. It was great :-) A lovely bunch of people keen to learn and lovely sunshine. The last couple of weeks have been wet ones indeed for me. Due to high winds and high tides I have been helping our...

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...

This autumn has seen the start of the ‘ war against willow’ sizable areas have been cleared behind the scrape on "IMF2" and also within the reedbed area. No need to panic though as this essential management work prevents the wetland areas from "scrubbing" over and keeps...

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...

Dear All It has been a long time since I had the time to sit down and update what we have been up to on the practical side of things! Sorry! You may have seen me this afternoon mowing half of the sacrificial crop – destructive as it may look there is a good reason for it! We mow it now before...

Late stayers at Burton Mere Wetlands have seen the (phenomenal) little egret roost receive a couple of new lodgers over the past few weeks - two great white egrets! Several reports of great white egret at Parkgate led the staff here to carefully examine everyone of the 200+ little egrets that come...

The cattle are back - 38 juvenille deliquents to be exact! This year we have worked with our neighbouring cattle farmers, The Bathers, to return cattle to IMF2. We are hoping to work closely with them and encourage the farming of more native breeds in the future. At the moment you will notice they are...

Water vole’s odd hairdo puzzles experts... A water vole with a distinctive difference has been caught on a hidden camera at RSPB Dee Estuary nature reserve on the Wirral. This curious cutie has a Mohawk-style white stripe on the top of its head, leaving experts scratching their own heads...

If you look beyond the reedbed and over to the far side of "IMF2" you will notice a big change in the landscape as over 8 hectares of land is being prepared to be planted with a barley crop. This area is too dry to be part of the wetland so we got our heads together and came up with a plan...

Dear all It's been a long time since I wrote on here but I know you have been in Paul's capable hands :-) I now have lots to write about! I have just returned from bribing - oops feeding - the cows this morning ready for their departure on Monday. I am getting them used to being fed from...

Dear All You will be pleased to hear we have a delivery of road planings arriving on Monday to fill in the pot holes along the track!! All help greatly appreciated if anyone is free next week - and values their suspension! Give me a ring, text or an email 07540121465, rhian.pierce@rspb.org.uk We...

The hard work is continuing down at "Inner Marsh Farm 2" with one big job complete and another big job on going the landscape is changing quickly. Several sluices have been installed which will allow us to effectively control water levels on our new shallow pools. Meanwhile a 2.5Km predator...

Dear All The reserve looked lovely this morning covered in frost and even nicer now the sun is out. Lots has been done recently..... Trees and shrubs have been planted at Burton Mere around the carpark by children from the village school, with the plants kindly donated by Ness Botanic gardens. Just...

After 4 weeks of hard graft a new wetland haven has been created down at IMF. On land adjacent to Burton Mere Fisheries over 5 hectares of abandoned arable land has been transformed into a network of pools, islands, spits and bays perfect for waders and wildfowl such as lapwing, snipe, teal and pintail...

Hi I am currently having a well earned sit down after a strenuous few days. Monday was spent clearing all the sheep off the entire marsh - 9 hours of walking, running and scrambling over ditches was needed to get them all in. We had to double back, wade over to islands, chase them over gutters but...

Hello! Well, we have the new wetland we were hoping for - a few weeks early! All this rain has seen our new scrape filled in with mallard, whimbrel, canada geese, green sandpiper and common sandpiper all using it! The diggers are currently on standby for a while........ It is now a wellie job to check...