After a long spell out of action with flu, I was keen to get out and about again. We opted for the Dee estuary which never disappoints. Our main target for the day was Twite at Connah’s Quay. We are going to Hawaii for three weeks shortly and this could have been our last chace to see them this winter.
When we arrived at Connah’s Quay we drove down to the reserve and flushed a group of Fieldfares in the bushes at the edge of the road. The tide was pretty much at its highest point. We started out at the west hide in the hope of seeing some Twite and it wasn’t long before we saw a group of about two dozen dropping down from the fence to feed under the cage that is used for feeding / ringing.
There was quite a gale blowing and a lot of the other birds were under cover. On the lake there were a few Little Grebes, Tufted Ducks, Shovelers etc. and in the fields there were plenty of Curlew. From the wets hide we also got an excellent display by a fair sized group of Dunlin wheeling around in the sunshine between us and Flint Castle. The Dunlin, Fieldfare and Twite were all “year ticks” for us.
We did drive down to the other hides and caught some woodland birds at the feeders but it was very blustery so we only stayed about an hour and a quarter.
We then went on to Shotwick Fields but there were neither Bewick’s nor Whooper Swans there. There was a big group of Mute Swans and three Black Swans still, though.
Next we went over to RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands where we got a nice range of birds including “year ticks” of Avocet, Ruff, Marsh Harrier and Great White Egret at various places around the site. There had actually been a lot of damage on the site due to the recent storm and there were a lot of trees blown down and lots of their wattle screens had been blown to bits exposing some of the area around the marsh covert hide.
Inner Marsh Farm had been closed off but was recently opened but the hill fort was still out of bounds with the trees there in need of some examination regarding their safety.
We had an interesting view of a group of around ten Grey Herons all in the air at the same time. It may be that they were all collecting nest material – there was certainly no shortage of material after the storm.
We did go down to Denholm Old Quay for a spot of lunch at the Harp Inn but it was so windy that there didn’t seem to be any birds of prey around at all so we didn’t stay too long.
So, it was good to get out again and it was certainly a very fresh day. We managed to avoid the rain and got seven new “year ticks” including the Twite that had been our main target for the day.
Bird Sightings : Connah’s Quay Nature Reserve
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Common Shelduck | 60 |
| Eurasian Wigeon | 150 |
| Northern Shoveler | 4 |
| Tufted Duck | 50 |
| Little Grebe | 4 |
| Grey Heron | 1 |
| Common Coot | 6 |
| Eurasian Oystercatcher | 4 |
| Northern Lapwing | 50 |
| Common Redshank | 30 |
| Eurasian Curlew | 40 |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 3 |
| Dunlin | 200 |
| Black-headed Gull | 40 |
| Herring Gull | 10 |
| Great Black-backed Gull | 6 |
| Eurasian Magpie | 8 |
| Carrion Crow | 10 |
| Eurasian Blue Tit | 2 |
| Long-tailed Tit | 2 |
| European Robin | 1 |
| Eurasian Blackbird | 3 |
| Fieldfare | 10 |
| Pied Wagtail | 1 |
| Common Chaffinch | 1 |
| European Greenfinch | 2 |
| European Goldfinch | 4 |
| Twite | 24 |
Bird Sightings : Shotwick Fields
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Mute Swan | 24 |
| Black Swan | 3 |
Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands Reception Hide
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Pink-footed Goose | 3 |
| Canada Goose | 40 |
| Common Shelduck | 8 |
| Gadwall | 2 |
| Eurasian Wigeon | 100 |
| Mallard | 20 |
| Northern Shoveler | 8 |
| Northern Pintail | 1 |
| Common Teal | 60 |
| Tufted Duck | 30 |
| Great Cormorant | 2 |
| Common Moorhen | 2 |
| Common Coot | 6 |
| Northern Lapwing | 12 |
| Eurasian Curlew | 20 |
| Ruff | 1 |
| Black-headed Gull | 60 |
| Fieldfare | 3 |
| Common Starling | 30 |
Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands Environs
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Grey Heron | 10 |
| Common Buzzard | 3 |
| Pied Avocet | 8 |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 50 |
| Common Kestrel | 1 |
| Rook | 60 |
Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands Marsh Covert Hide
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Canada Goose | 8 |
| Eurasian Wigeon | 80 |
| Mallard | 4 |
| Northern Shoveler | 40 |
| Common Teal | 20 |
| Great Egret | 1 |
| Little Egret | 1 |
| Eurasian Marsh Harrier | 1 |
| Common Moorhen | 10 |
| Common Coot | 2 |
| Eurasian Curlew | 8 |