Birding Group Visit to Burton Mere Wetlands 18th September 2018
The first birding group outing of the year was, of course, to Burton Mere Wetlands which we seem to go to every week on our own account. Be that as it may it was still an interesting day and some nice birds as usual.
From the reception hide we could see a couple of Spotted Redshank away at the back of the scrape. There was no sign of the Spotted Crake, unfortunately. There were the usual suspects including a pair of Black Swans but it was very windy and most of the birds were hunkered down, heads tucked under wings.
We thought we would have better luck down at Inner Marsh Farm as it might be less windy down there. It turned out to be so but the birds were still in hunkered down mode. We did get a pair of Curlew Sandpiper among the Dunlin and a single Ringed Plover. A single Spotted Redshank was among the Black-tailed Godwits roosting on the nearest island to the hide. Three Little Egrets had joined them for warmth.
A single Barnacle Goose wandered around at the back of the scrape and in the water we also got a couple of wading Snipe and, at the edge, a single Ruff.
We gave the point a miss thinking that it wasn’t going to be much good in the high winds but en route to and from Inner Marsh Farm we had the interesting situation of listening to a Whitethroat singing loudly from the reeds at the end of the path leading down to the Marsh Covert hide. In the fields at the back of the screen at the bridge there was a single Cattle Egret dodging between the legs of the cows in the field there.
Not a bad morning and we headed off for lunch at the Harp at Little Neston to look for raptors which we did to little avail. When no food was available at The Harp we headed off for Park gate instead. It turns out we should have gone there first because the Pallid Harrier had been seen about the time we were at Little Neston! Instead we had to settle for a pair of Marsh Harriers.
Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands Reception Hide 18th September 2018
| Black Swan | 2 |
| Mallard | 20 |
| Common Teal | 100 |
| Tufted Duck | 6 |
| Common Moorhen | 6 |
| Green Sandpiper | 1 |
| Spotted Redshank | 2 |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 30 |
| Black-headed Gull | 20 |
Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands Inner Marsh Farm 18th September 2018
| Greylag Goose | 60 |
| Barnacle Goose | 1 |
| Canada Goose | 30 |
| Mallard | 10 |
| Northern Shoveler | 6 |
| Common Teal | 50 |
| Little Egret | 3 |
| Northern Lapwing | 40 |
| Common Ringed Plover | 1 |
| Spotted Redshank | 1 |
| Common Redshank | 4 |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 10 |
| Ruff | 1 |
| Curlew Sandpiper | 2 |
| Dunlin | 20 |
| Common Snipe | 2 |
Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands Environs 18th September 2018
| Cattle Egret | 1 |
| Common Whitethroat | 1 |
| Dunnock | 1 |
| European Goldfinch | 4 |
Bird Sightings : Parkgate 18th September 2018
| Little Egret | 8 |
| Eurasian Marsh Harrier | 2 |
| Common Redshank | 40 |