Birding Group Visit to Burton Mere Wetlands and Parkgate 1 Apr 2025
It surely could not be a coincidence that we went to the Wirral for a tide of 9.9 metres at 2:15pm on the first of April. It turned out to be something of an April’s Fool.
We all agreed to meet up at Burton Mere Wetlands around 10 am and it was a nice sunny day – if a cooler than it looked. The first birds I got were a pair of Med Gulls on the main scrape amongst the Black-headed Gulls. A Little Ringed Plover (a year tick) appeared a little later and there were a few Redshanks and good numbers of Avocets. The Black-tailed Godwits were Presumably elsewhere on the site because there were just a few of them. The Pink-footed Geese appear to have moved on and the Canada Geese are starting to collect in large numbers.
We walked up to the feeders, getting good views of one of the singing Chiffchaffs but not much else. Returning to the reception hide, we moved in the other direction where were got views of two Cetti’s Warblers and another Chiffchaff. A single Sand Martin was flying over. We didn’t stay that long because we were heading up the Wirral. We all decided that, because the high tide was a way off and that it wasn’t really that high anyway, that we would go to Riverbank Road but when we got there the water was a very long way out. Some of the group abandoned the plan there and went home but we went down t Parkgate for lunch and a bit of casual birding on the promenade.
As it happened, we got a March Harrier and a Great Egret, some Skylarks and a Stonechat. Even then the tide was a long way away even though it was about high tide. We all wondered whose idea it was to arrange to go to a not very high tide, after 2pm? A mystery but we had a nice morning anyway.
Bird Sightings : Burtom Mere Wetlands 1st April 2025
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Avocet | 24 |
| Black-headed Gull | 30 |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 4 |
| Blue Tit | 6 |
| Buzzard | 2 |
| Canada Goose | 200 |
| Cetti's Warbler | 2 |
| Chaffinch | 2 |
| Chiffchaff | 2 |
| Coot | 6 |
| Cormorant | 1 |
| Gadwall | 6 |
| Goldfinch | 4 |
| Great Tit | 2 |
| Greylag Goose | 30 |
| Jackdaw | 10 |
| Lapwing | 8 |
| Little Ringed Plover | 1 |
| Long-tailed Tit | 1 |
| Magpie | 6 |
| Mallard | 8 |
| Mediterranean Gull | 2 |
| Moorhen | 8 |
| Oystercatcher | 2 |
| Redshank | 4 |
| Robin | 4 |
| Rook | 30 |
| Sand Martin | 1 |
| Shelduck | 12 |
| Shoveler | 20 |
| Teal | 6 |
| Woodpigeon | 5 |
Bird Sightings : Parkgate 1st April 2025
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Black-headed Gull | 40 |
| Great White Egret | 1 |
| Little Egret | 2 |
| Marsh Harrier | 1 |
| Pheasant | 1 |
| Pink-footed Goose | 60 |
| Redshank | 90 |
| Skylark | 4 |
| Stonechat | 1 |