{"id":5628,"date":"2016-03-29T19:32:49","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T18:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.billneil.co.uk\/blogs\/birding\/?p=5628"},"modified":"2016-03-31T11:20:43","modified_gmt":"2016-03-31T10:20:43","slug":"connahs-quay-and-burton-mere-wetlands-29th-march-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billneil.co.uk\/blogs\/birding\/2016\/03\/connahs-quay-and-burton-mere-wetlands-29th-march-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Connah&#8217;s Quay and Burton Mere Wetlands : 29th March 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Connah&#8217;s Quay and Burton Mere Wetlands : 29th March 2016<\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_5629\" style=\"width: 458px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.billneil.co.uk\/blogs\/birding\/2016\/03\/connahs-quay-and-burton-mere-wetlands-29th-march-2016\/curlew-connahs-quay\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5629\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5629\" class=\" wp-image-5629\" src=\"https:\/\/www.billneil.co.uk\/blogs\/birding\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Curlew-Connahs-Quay.jpg\" alt=\"Curlew, Connah's Quay\" width=\"458\" height=\"294\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-5629\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Curlew, Connah&#8217;s Quay<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>A return visit to Connah&#8217;s Quay failed to produce any Twite. We stayed at the area where they are usually to be found for a couple of hours but we were out of luck. It is probably about the time when they are moving up to higher ground for the spring and summer but I don&#8217;t really know. While we were waiting we surveyed the area of the Dee with the tide a long way out. In fact it started to turn when we were there. It is a real contrast to the English side of the River Dee and from the elevated position of the upper floor of the &#8220;white hide&#8221; at Connah&#8217;s Quay Reserve, you can really see the extent of the mud flats that make this such a fantastic area for wading birds and those that don&#8217;t wade but feed on either small mammals or other birds.<\/p>\n<p>We did get one &#8220;year tick&#8221; at Connah&#8217;s Quay and that was our first Chiffchaff of the year; we didn&#8217;t see it but we heard it and may just have got a glimpse of it in the bushes but we couldn&#8217;t be sure. It being rather cold and a bit dull and no Twites showing, we decided to head off for lunch and then we dropped into Burton MEre Wetlands where we got a second &#8220;year tick&#8221; in the form of a Barnacle Goose mixed in with the Canada Geese in the fields beyond the scrape. On the scrape there were good numbers of Avocets and the Black-tailed Godwits, that seem to have been a bit hard to see this year, were ther in plentiful numbers as well and starting to turn colour into their summer plumage.<\/p>\n<p>There wasn&#8217;t anything that special to be seen apart from the above but it was a nice walk. We didn&#8217;t have the time to get down to Inner Marsh Farm, unfortunately, but we are due to be back at Burton in a couple of weeks with the birding group and we will certainly include it on our rounds then.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">Bird Sightings : Connah&#8217;s Quay<\/h4>\n<table class=\"blogtable\" border=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th width=\"210\">Species<\/th>\n<th width=\"30\">Count<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Canada Goose<\/td>\n<td>30<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mute Swan<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Shelduck<\/td>\n<td>100<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Gadwall<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Eurasian Wigeon<\/td>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mallard<\/td>\n<td>12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Teal<\/td>\n<td>20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tufted Duck<\/td>\n<td>12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Little Grebe<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Great Cormorant<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Grey Heron<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Little Egret<\/td>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Buzzard<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Moorhen<\/td>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Coot<\/td>\n<td>8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Eurasian Oystercatcher<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Redshank<\/td>\n<td>20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Eurasian Curlew<\/td>\n<td>16<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Black-headed Gull<\/td>\n<td>30<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Wood Pigeon<\/td>\n<td>8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Kestrel<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Eurasian Magpie<\/td>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Carrion Crow<\/td>\n<td>30<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Great Tit<\/td>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Eurasian Blue Tit<\/td>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Chiffchaff<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>European Robin<\/td>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Eurasian Blackbird<\/td>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mistle Thrush<\/td>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pied Wagtail<\/td>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Chaffinch<\/td>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>European Goldfinch<\/td>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands : Main Scrape<\/h4>\n<table class=\"blogtable\" border=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th width=\"210\">Species<\/th>\n<th width=\"30\">Count<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Greylag Goose<\/td>\n<td>20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Barnacle Goose<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Canada Goose<\/td>\n<td>60<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mute Swan<\/td>\n<td>20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mallard<\/td>\n<td>20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Northern Shoveler<\/td>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Teal<\/td>\n<td>60<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tufted Duck<\/td>\n<td>8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Great Cormorant<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Grey Heron<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Little Egret<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Moorhen<\/td>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Coot<\/td>\n<td>20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pied Avocet<\/td>\n<td>40<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Northern Lapwing<\/td>\n<td>20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Redshank<\/td>\n<td>12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Black-tailed Godwit<\/td>\n<td>60<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Black-headed Gull<\/td>\n<td>30<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\">Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands : Environs<\/h4>\n<table class=\"blogtable\" border=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th width=\"210\">Species<\/th>\n<th width=\"30\">Count<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<p><!--table row and column data goes here--><\/p>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Wood Pigeon<\/td>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Song Thrush<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Great Spotted Woodpecker<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Kestrel<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Eurasian Magpie<\/td>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Rook<\/td>\n<td>20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Carrion Crow<\/td>\n<td>10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Great Tit<\/td>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Eurasian Blue Tit<\/td>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Chiffchaff<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Eurasian Blackbird<\/td>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Dunnock<\/td>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pied Wagtail<\/td>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Common Chaffinch<\/td>\n<td>10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>European Greenfinch<\/td>\n<td>10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>European Goldfinch<\/td>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<p><!--table row and column data goes here--><\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Connah&#8217;s Quay and Burton Mere Wetlands : 29th March 2016<\/p><p><a class=\"more-link btn\" 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