Burton Mere Wetlands 19th January 2016
The second birding group outing of the term, and the year, was to RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands where I hoped to add a fair number of species to my 2016 year list. I wasn’t to be disappointed and, although we did not see the Long-eared Owl that has been roosting down the path to the Inner Marsh Farm hide, we did manage to get long and wonderful views of a Short-eared Owl quartering the marsh from Burton Point. Other nice birds were a small flock of Golden Plover on the Scrape and a Kingfisher from the Marsh Covert Hide as well as Siskin, Linnets, Fieldfare and Redwing in the sky and among the trees around the site. We also got a good number of ducks and some waders adding up to 43 species for the day but – incredibly for Burton – no Black-tailed Godwits ! Who knows where they have gone.