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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...

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

Thank you to all those who have attended our trail Monday evening dusk walks ... I hope you'll agree that the site of our resident great white egrets coming into roost right over your heads was worth it! Other sightings from Monday include green woodpecker, male hen harrier, peregrine, siskin...

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...

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...

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...

A first for the new Burton Mere Wetlands :) Finally, after a few months of regular nearby sightings a local (?) red kite shows itself and boy did we know about it - several hundred black-tailed godwits, avocets, black-headed gulls and lapwings mobbed it until it disappeared over the horizon - no wonder...

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...

"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...

Despite the lack of traditional snow here on the Dee this year we have seen a recent influx of wintering geese. This is no doubt in response to harsher weather even further north. The star species amongst literally thousand of wintering geese are two tundra bean geese, the first ever modern day record...

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...

Dear All, If you have been down to Parkgate recently you may have been surprised to see a few changes to the landscape...... Through a joint project with Cheshire West & Cheshire Council, Neston Town Council, The Parkgate Society and the RSPB has been carrying out some habitat works on the...

Those of you who have a tendency for noticing subtle things may well have already spotted a few strange blokes wandering around near to our developing reed-bed. However, there is no need to worry as these contractors are putting together our "Marsh Covert" hide. This hide will form part...

With the weather taking a turn for the worse birding has become slightly moe difficult as birds take refuge (getting decent pictures has been even tougher!). So as soon as the clouds broke I popped down to the hide where this stunning looking male ruff was waiting to have its picture taken. This...