Burton Mere Wetlands 11 April 2022

A morning out to Burton Mere Wetlands promised the possibility of Garganey as well as all the other usual species. As it happened, we got four new year ticks and some very good views of a bird that had proved very elusive on a previous visit.

The main scrape was awash with Black headed Gulls but perhaps the next most numerous species were Avocets of which there were at least three dozen. Apart from that a spattering of Black-tailed Godwits, a single Common Redshank and the usual ducks was what was on offer.

There was quite a bit of water around the site, so a lot of the scrapes weren’t to be seen. This meant that it was mainly ducks on offer but fair numbers of the usual Shoveler, Teal, Shelduck, Mallard and Tufted Ducks.

As we walked down to the bridge screen a Sparrowhawk was at the back of the site just over Shotwick, causing mayhem. This was a year first. Down at the bridge screen, however, things picked up and we managed to get a few Pintail – another first for the year for us.

As we walked down to what I still refer to as Inner Marsh Farm the trees were full of Cetti’s Warblers and Chiffchaffs. We saw three Chiffchaffs but heard many more all over the site. Presumably their need to be heard the loudest among such competition had brought them much more out into the open and made them an easier spot than usual.

A small number of House Martins were flying around in the distance – in fact some of them may even have been Sand Martins but they were a way away so I was a bit uncertain.

At Inner Marsh Farm the water was very high so the chances of small waders were slim. There were good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits and a few other of the usual species but the target bird – a male Garganey – resolutely sat sleeping on a grassy strip; quite close but with “head under wing” it was only showing a bit of body plumage and the diagnostic thick white facial stripe.

On the way back, we stopped again at the bridge screen and as I was looking towards the back at some Pintails another bird flew in and I was struck by the white on its face. It turned out to be a Long-tailed Duck. Presumably this was the same one we had seen on our last visit when it was constantly feeding so only on the surface very briefly. This time it was preening so we got excellent views of it for as long as we wanted. It is hard to walk away from such a bird but in the end we had to.

We decided to go down to Parkgate to get some lunch and managed to get a Great White Egret – but no lunch. Instead we went down to Little Neston, to the Harp Inn where it was too cold to sit out but we had a toastie and a drink before heading home. We had wanted to go to both places to see the damage caused by the recent fire set by three young boys that caused a lot of damage. To be honest, it was hard to see much difference but there has obviously been a lot of damage. Hopefully it happened at a fortunate time in that the wintering raptors were probably ont he verge of leaving anyway and the breeding season had not yet started properly. I would imagine that it would recover quite quickly and might even allow for some new growth in the reedbeds.

Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands 11 April 2022