Burton Mere Wetlands & Parkgate 7th October 2020

A promising day weather-wise took us up to Burton Mere Wetlands- again – and it turned out to be a lovely sunny day with some nice birds and a couple of new parts of the site had opened up since our last visit on 29th September.

When we checked in we were told that the Marsh Covert Hide had re-opened so we were interested to take a look there. On the way down we could see that there were still a couple of Cattle Egret on the main scrape.As it happened, there wasn’t that much there. There was an 8 person limit for the hide and people have to wear masks. There are also signs asking people not to hog the hide which is a useful reminder to people.

We continued to walk down to the bridge and on the water there were the usual range of Black-tailed Godwits, Shovelers, Teal and a couple of Little Grebes. We crossed the bridge and then got to the new boardwalk that is just at the foot of the rise that leads to Burton Point and Inner Marsh Farm Hide. They staff and volunteers have made a great job of this and it is really unique in that it goes straight into the marsh before turning through the trees and ending at the main path to Inner Marsh Farm. This is a great idea for accessibility but also provides another bit of habitat you don’t normally see at Burton. I imagine it will be great in Spring. We were told, last week, that Woodcock live down this area as well so that would be another great addition to our Burton bird list.

The IMF Hide isn’t open yet so we walked up the old path and then up the steps to get to Burton Point. We didn’t see much up there but there was a great view up there. At the top there were some absolutely huge fungi in the grass near the gate.

We walked back down to reception catching a Buzzard on the way down and also a “year tick ” (for the UK) Raven and we saw a sunbathing Lizard as well. We walked round the back of the old fishing pond where we got a Grey Wagtail – anohter very nice “year tick”. A little further on a chap showed us a video he had just taken of a Kingfisher but it had caught a fish and was hiding away again.

We continued on to the raised viewing platform just past the Bunker Hide and had a quick look at the scrape. We were the only ones there so we concluded that the Spotted Crake was still hiding away somewhere. We had to settle for a few Snipe and the usual ducks and geese.

We had to get back home relatively early so we had a quick visit to Parkgate where there wasn’t much about except a Great Egret, some Little Egrets and a Kestrel. We had lunch at the Boathouse but, unfortunately, the outside seating area was closed for food because it had been very wet recently and was deemed to be too slippy. They were only serving drinks on the smaller outdoor area.

On our way back home the whole area around Frodsham was flooded with dozens of lakes full of birds. All a bit too far away to see what they were and impossible to slow down.

It seems that there is a distinct possibility that Manchester (if not the whole country) is heading for another full lockdown so we were very happy to take another chance to get out into nature – while we still can!!

Bird Sightings Burton Mere Wetlands 7th October 2020

Bird Sightings Parkgate 7th October 2020