Birding Group Day Out to Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB 31st October 2011

Birding Group Day Out to Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB 31st October 2011

This was the first time we had been to this particular part of the site. Previously the site had been called Inner Marsh Farm and had a small entrance “hut” and a small car park. You could walk through woodlands and then between fields and then back into more woodlands before you came to the single hide which overlooked a lake. They instituted  an expansion plan which involved digging out some more lakes and adding three more hides on the opposite side of the lakes from the original hide. The area opposite the old hide has now become the new reception area where they have a main “hide” which is a large windowed double-glazed affair – all rather posh. They have another, smaller hide just off to the side and both of these overlook the new ponds. There are also toilets here though, as yet, no cafe or coffee machines. We started off by checking in at the hide at Reception but only remained there briefly before going on to the far hide where there is a little display charting the history of the whole site and how it got to the substantial size it is now.

At this hide we had a look at the history of the place before settling down to check out what was to be seen. The hide was brand new and there was still a fine powering of sawdust and a pronounced smell of the school woodwork room. There are some fixed windows and others that open out. You can use a tripod or a clamp, though it has to be said that the shelves are hardly sturdy enough to hold scopes without them wobbling – One wonders who thought that these shelves would be strong enough or stable enough. Anyway it is a very pleasant hide and in the first lake facing us we were presented with huge numbers of Pintail (around 1000) and Teal (2000). I don’t think that any of us had ever seen this many Pintail before and that was apparently a small group as earlier the same day they had logged 2,500 Pintail ! There were smaller numbers of Wigeon, Mallard, Shoveler and Coot and also Black-headed Gulls. We also saw a Peregrine Falcon fly low over the water and causing some mayhem amongst the throng of birds.

We walked back along the path to the main reception hide and set up there. When we had stopped there when we first arrived we had seen some Gadwall but on our return they were no longer to be seen. There were two Mute Swans with one cygnet, lots of Canada Geese and Shovelers and Teal and a single Tufted Duck. On the gravel scrape there were a couple of Pied Wagtails bobbing about and on the bird feeders there were Blue and Great tits. A Kestrel was also seen hovering over the bullrushes. I was not the only person in our group to find that the double glazing in the hide made it very difficult to focus scopes to the far edge of the lakes. I mentioned this to a staff member and they confirmed that it had been a compromise between keeping the hide warm and viewing the birds. Personally I would have though that viewing the birds was more important than the hide being very warm but perhaps that is just me. I didn’t think about it at the time but as we left we noticed a bit of a platform outside the second  “hide-type” building there and maybe it was possible to look from there and get clearer views. The impression I got from the staff member was that I had not been the first to mention this issue.

Anyway time was getting on so we drove round to the old hide which you can see across the lakes from the reception hide but which you cannot – as yet – walk all the way round to. This is the original reception area when the site was called Inner Marsh Farm. We parked up there and walked through the woods to where the path opened into a clearing with fields on the left. Here we saw a few Fieldfare. We continued along the path and then turned downhill through the next patch of woodland. As we were walking down we stopped and set up our scopes to look at a small group of Whooper Swans that we could see in the lake below. We also saw a Buzzard sitting on a post behind them. We walked down to the hide and from there we could see the Swans a little closer. They were accompanied by a small flock of Greylag Geese and rather more Canada Geese and around 100 Lapwing. There was a small flock of Starlings and a Grey Heron. As we looked back on the same pool as we could see in the distance from the visitor centre we saw around two hundred Black-tailed Godwit and around sixty Teal. A solitary Moorhen ran about on the mud. The old hide may not be as warm as the new ones but it is still a good site and it will be all the better when it is possible to walk all the way around the site without having to get back on the main road.

All in all they have done a great job at this site and it is bound to be very popular in the future. As we walked back past the area where we had seen the Fieldfare before we now saw a Mistle Thrush. There were, as usual, lots of Magpies and at the feeders near the car park there were Blue and Great Tits and Goldfinches and Chaffinches and- as before – rather less lovely Rats.

Bird Sightings : Far Hide

Bird Sightings : Reception Hide

Bird Sightings : Old Hide

How we got there

• From the end of the M56 take the A540 towards Hoylake & West Kirby – initially a single carriageway it becomes a dual carriageway after the Tudor Rose pub on left hand side.

From here there are two options. The best is to take the first left after the Tudor Rose pub which is Puddington Lane and to follow this all the way down in the direction of Burton village until you see a left turn into the RSPB entry road. If you miss this you can do the following :

• Continue on A540 past Gordale Garden Centre on left hand side to the next traffic lights where RSPB Burton Wetlands is now signposted – turn left and go into Burton village.
• Just after the Gladstone village hall on left hand side turn left – there’s now another brown sign for Burton Wetlands indicating this.
• Shortly after Bishop Wilson Primary School on left hand side an RSPB sign indicates a right turn. Go down this farm track to the car park amidst trees.

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