Birding Group Visit to RSPB Burton Mere Wetland 18th June 2012

Birding Group Visit to RSPB Burton Mere Wetland 18th June 2012

Our birding group day out this week was on a Monday rather than a Tuesday and this was to match up with the high tide which should push more birds onto the reserve. As it happens there has been so much rain recently that the water levels were very high on the reserves and this seemed to mean that the high tide had little effect really. However Burton Mere is usually good so we were hoping for a good morning. We started at the visitor centre where by far the biggest attraction was the presence of a fair number of Avocets and lots of Avocet chicks. Their notice board had it as 34 Avocets from 13 pairs. They were also listing breeding Lapwings and Redshank as well as Common Tern nesting which they said was rare for them but we didn’t manage to see them at all.

We also saw a Little Grebe with 2 chicks and a juvenile Great Crested Grebe. On the islands were lots of Black-headed Gulls and a single Oystercatcher. There were small numbers of Tufted Ducks adn at the far side we could see a few Lapwing that only became obvious when they took to the air.  As we walked round to the far hide we could hear lots of birds in the reeds and as we came to the turn in the path that leads down to the hide we got a better view of the mixed roosting site of Grey Herons and Little Egrets.

At the far hide a Little Egret would land occasionally and there was constant traffic in the sky as they went too and from their roosting site. From this hide we could see a few Shelduck, more Tufted Ducks, Mute Swans, four Gadwall and Moorhens and Coots. A single Kestrel flew over the edge of the woods and in the reed beds there were Reed Buntings and Reed Warblers and probably more but they were keeping low to the reeds and dropping out of sight almost as soon as you could clap eyes on them. As we walked back along the path we saw a Sedge Warbler and at the feeder station there was a Pheasant, various Tits, a Jackdaw and a juvenile Nuthatch.

We had a quick look in at the visitor centre again but there was nothing much new to be seen except a single Bar-tailed Godwit. We walked the path leading up to the hide over the Sand Martin bank and as we got near it we saw two Buzzards and a couple of Swallows.

To finish it off we took a short woodland walk but this was fairly quiet too with mainly Blackbirds and Robins but we were pleased to see an Adult Wren with two young flying from bush to bush.

All in all it was a good morning and the only small disappointment was the lack of any wading birds.

Bird Sightings : RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands : Visitor Centre Hide

Bird Sightings : RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands : Far Hide

Bird Sightings : RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands : Environs