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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...

One of a pair of blue tit inspecting the plants at Burton Mere ... this wildlife hedgerow around the car park was planted by pupils of Bishop Wilson Primary School, Burton whilst the plants themsleves were kindly donated by Ness Botanic Gardens :)

Progress on the Reception Building at Burton Mere

Earth moving at Inner marsh Farm. Diggers and trucks worked for near on a month creating a new 5 hectare 'scrape' at the extended Inner Marsh Farm. This large shallow pool has a complex of 9 islands and has already played host to a variety of wader and wildfowl. This work is support by the Heritage...

Currently outline planning permission has been granted for the new reception-building for Burton Mere, we are in the process of going through reserved matters and hope that full planning permission will be granted this winter. The building will act as the focus and information point for the whole...

During the work the heavens opened and the new scrape begun to take shape before the wor was complete!

During the work the heavens opened and the new scrape begun to take shape before the work was complete!

4 weeks later and a new 5 hectare wetland was created :)

One of the footdrains created in Autumn 2009 at IMF2 by the RSPB's Rotary Ditcher. The ditches filled with water in the winter and attracted over 700 pink-foooted geese and 2000 lapwing in the winter. This spring approx 10 pairs of lapwing nested here too.

New ramp allowing for access for all from trails around Burton Mere onto the wider reserve footpath network. The path will go on past the develpoing reedbed and eventually link to a "Reedbed View" hide and then on beyond onto the existing hide.