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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...

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...

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

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...

RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands, on the Dee Estuary, is inviting people to help celebrate its first birthday by offering free entry this weekend (Saturday 22 - Sunday 23 September). Over the past 12 months almost 30,000 people have visited the nature reserve, which was opened last year by BBC wildlife presenter...

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...

Perhaps not the exact origin of the saying but coot chicks are very bald indeed! This is one of five on the pool just outside the reception building at Burton Mere Wetlands. We also have a newly hatched brood of greylag geese and five different broods of avocets, so babies are the feature of the...

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...

Join the ducks and ‘go quackers’ at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands, near Neston, as the RSPB’s newest nature reserve gets ready for Christmas and lays on a feast of festive family activities. Once the Christmas holidays begin, younger visitors will be able to follow a ‘Ducking and...

An amazing run of spectacular birds continues at Burton Mere Wetlands with a Glossy Ibis being first seen on Saturday again on Sunday and even as I type the bird is still present. These little egret sized birds usually migrate to Africa for the winter but in certain years several individuals find...