The Dee and Thereabouts

Category: Wirral

  • A hot day at Burton Mere

    (Sunday 13th July, 2025)

        I went across to Burton Mere Wetlands today. It was a hot 28°C but slightly cooler than yesterday’s 32°C. Naturally, there were lots of birds at the Wetlands including Canada geese, Greylag geese, Mallards, Moorhens, Shovellers, Shelducks, Black-headed gulls and Avocets. There were also a few Black-tailed godwits and lots of Knots at the Scrape, and both species were in their stunning brick-red summer attire; and from the Border hide I saw what looked like several hundred Lapwings.

        I’m certain I missed many more bird species: I have to admit that my attention was more focussed on the number and variety of butterflies on display. Because the butterfly number was so low in the UK last year, it’s been very comforting to see how much more numerous they are this year. Today at the wetlands there were Small whites, Large whites, Red admirals, Speckled woods, Small tortoiseshells, Commas, and Meadow browns.

        All of these moths and butterflies – and various bees, hoverflies and other insects – are drawn to the various plants of the marshland. The Meadowsweet is a lovely, creamy colour and smells wonderful (well, it’s there in its name of course); and Tufted vetch is particularly abundant at present. There is clover – both red, and white – and Red campion as well as many, many more wildflowers and plants that play their part in attracting these pollinators. In fact, visitors (adults and children) are encouraged to look and see what’s around them.

    Meadowsweet
    Flower alert
    Dryad's saddle

        I noticed several large, light-brown mushrooms at the base of a dead tree just off one of the paths. For all that I’m a fun guy, I know very little about fungi (oh dear…!) so I had to look these up later. The mushrooms are known as ‘Dryad’s saddle’ which is a name that relates to supernatural beings from Ancient Greek mythology. I imagined these dryads (tree-nymphs) resting while taking a break from their usual activities, which are essentially dedicated to protecting the tree or trees in their charge. As you can see, the mushrooms grow one above another almost in ladder form, and I imagined the tree-nymphs had scampered up them to conceal themselves at my approach. It obviously worked because I didn’t see any at all that day!

        The visitor’s centre has a couple of whiteboards on which the current day’s sightings and the previous day’s sightings are listed. This is not just confined to birds, but also butterflies, moths, and plants and wildflowers. I think this is a great idea: inevitably, you miss things, so it’s good to check the boards. Not so much to see what you’ve missed, but more to give you an idea of the variety of flora and fauna that’s around you, just waiting for you to discover on your next visit. I’d seen a couple of Common blue damselflies and one Brown hawker dragonfly as I headed back from the Border hide, but only back at the visitor centre did I learn that the Five-spot burnet moth inhabited the area. And I only learnt this because somebody listed it on the whiteboard. Now I know, of course, you can guarantee that I’ll never see one here!   

    The important stuff

    I went to the café and had a lovely cup of tea and a slice of Sour Cherry and Pistachio cake, which left me fully restored after the morning’s exertions in the sun. Lovely!

  • Bald as a Coot

    (Sunday 29th June, 2025)

        Over to Wirral Country Park this morning. The fierce westerlies of the last couple of days subsided overnight to leave just a faint breeze: very tranquil! We arrived at low tide, which meant that most of the birds had fed much earlier as it began receding, leaving only a few stragglers on Thurstaston beach. There was a Little egret paddling in one of the channels, and three Shelducks nearby. We heard Oystercatchers calling and there was the usual scattering of Common crows on the broad expanse.

    Juvenile Coot

    Above the beach, on the pond nearest the Wirral Way path, there were several Mallards and a pair of Coots with a juvenile shadowing them: unlike its parents, this youngster didn’t yet have the white beak and frontal ‘shield’ above the beak, nor the contrasting black plumage. Instead, its plumage is grey (and paler underneath), as is its beak.

       

    Coot and Mallard

    The beak and frontal shield change to white after about twelve months. The saying ‘as bald as a Coot’ is ascribed to this featherless section of the adult bird’s head. If you didn’t know this already, now you do!

        We noticed the abundance of food for the local wildlife: Blackthorns were bulging with sloes; Hawthorns were vigorously readying their haw berries; Dog roses were flowering, although we didn’t see any rosehips; and there were Crab apples aplenty. Pockets of Dandelions and patches of Tufted vetch added splashes of colour amongst the Stinging nettles and Hogweed. For me, there’s always been something special about Reedmace (I’ve long referred to these plants as bulrushes and, apparently, I’m not alone!). They look exceptionally lovely with their velvety brown flower heads and long, grass-like leaves and somehow ‘belong’ in waters like these ponds.

        Heading towards the main pond by the park’s entrance, two or three solo Small white butterflies fluttered by, and a pair of Meadow browns encircled each other. Four juvenile Canada geese swam in the pond: they were still somewhat smaller than their nearby parents, but clearly fit and healthy. Eagle-eyed Stu spotted a Terrapin in the water and took some photographs. It kept bobbing its head beneath the water – presumably searching for food – although it (and its shell) stayed floating on the surface. We first saw two Terrapins in this pond a few years ago now, and hadn’t seen either of them since, so it was a nice surprise to see that one, at least, was still going.

    That well-earned moment

    We finished off at Flissy’s café with a very tasty Bakewell slice each.

  • Purple and Scarlet

    (Tuesday 17th June, 2025)

        My brother and I went to RSPB Burton Mere today, on the Wirral Peninsula. From the huge reception window, looking out to the Scrape, we saw lots of Avocets with their young and perhaps even more Black-headed gulls. Closer towards us, in the relative quiet of the inlet, we saw a Tufted duck watching its brood with its distinctive yellow eyes.

        As we passed the feeder at the beginning of the trail, we saw Coal tits taking food away to dine in secret, which seems to be their habit. There was a single Northern shoveller at the Mere, and a pair of Mallards further beyond it, half-concealed by overhanging foliage. We disturbed a Grey heron, which flew away from the treetops in its ungainly manner: the branch on which it was resting must have been sturdy!

        At the reed hide we saw a Great white egret, elegantly patrolling the waters. There were a couple of keen photographers that had set up here, and I’m sure that they were rewarded with some great shots. As we continued along the trail, a Spoonbill flew over us carrying what looked like a long twig in its beak, which we guessed might be nesting material. It was flying in the direction of the Mere.

        At Marsh Covert were Coots, Moorhens, Canada geese, Lapwings, Redshanks and one Little egret probing the edge of the pool. At Border Hide, amongst the species already mentioned, we saw a small group of Black-tailed godwits, a huge colony of Knots, many of which had their lovely red-orange breeding plumage, Jackdaws, Crows, and Magpies. A first for me was seeing some Teal – there were just the three – and I must admit I felt quite chuffed!

        Although we visited Burton Mere primarily to see birds, there are other non-avian attractions to pique your interest. There were Common blue damselflies and White-tailed bumblebees, and we saw three Small whites, a Red admiral, and a courting couple of Gatekeepers. Most impressive, though, was the Scarlet tiger moth, wings unfurled to regenerate in the sun, which my eagle-eyed brother spotted.

    Scarlet tiger moth

    The moth is diurnal and quite exotic looking and, on returning to the visitor centre later, we saw that somebody else had reported seeing it: yes, the Scarlet tiger moth was listed on the whiteboard alongside all the birds, so my brother was very pleased!

        Amongst the flora were several Spotted orchids and some other orchids with dark purple flowers, which I confess I didn’t recognise. While there are obviously much more plants than recorded here, there were Buttercups, Daisies, Tufted vetch, Red dead-nettle, Teasel, Hogweed, Hedge parsley, Herb robert, Red clover, Red campion, and Bulrushes. (Apparently the Bulrush is properly known as Great reedmace, which is something I have recently learned. But I know what I mean!)

        We had a quick look from Bunker Hide, which offers a different perspective of the Scrape. It was actually the picnic area further on that we enjoyed: this offers a wide, open vista and a male Stonechat obligingly flew across in front of us and perched atop a small tree. House martins or Sand martins circled at speed, but to be frank I wish that occasionally these birds would slow down, not least so that I could actually identify them!

        As ever, a rewarding place to visit.

  • Fresh after the heatwave

    (Sunday 22nd June, 2025)

        Over to Burton Marsh this morning with Stu. We’ve just had temperatures above 25° C for three consecutive days both sides of the Dee estuary – i.e. North-east Wales and West Wirral). Although the sunshine was welcome, the heat was sultry. This morning there was a stiff WSW wind blowing, and the odd drop of rain, which together had driven away the sun. Unsurprisingly, not many of the birds was willing to come out and play – the change in the conditions felt more like spite than respite!

        We did see a Little egret shadowed by its partner. Both birds disembarked in a long channel of water some distance out, which was mostly occluded by marshland. Even through binoculars, we were unable to see any other activity. The egrets didn’t stay long and soon returned north-eastwards towards Neston.

        There were some Blackbirds, a Robin, and the usual indefatigable Crows. (I caught a glimpse of what I thought might have been a Cetti’s warbler, but it was too brief a glimpse for me to be certain – I shall look out next time).

    Despite the absence of the birds, there was still plenty to see.

    ""

    Meadowsweet abounded and we did the obvious and held the creamy yellow flowers to our noses – oh, what a lovely smell, as the name says really. The Common mallow is a quite lovely plant too, I think, with its tall stem and large flower-heads. The five grooved petals are lilac-pink with dark stripes.

    There was Tufted vetch, splashes of Dandelion, and Field bindweed. I had to look up the latter when I got home. Although the flower shape is obvious on reflection, it was the pale pink and white colours of the petals that threw me. One flower that I did recognise was the Yellow iris, which are also known as Yellow flag (but not by me). These flowers were all a little further out on the marsh and I suppose that they are an indicator of where the water channels and pools lie.

    The important stuff

        After all this hard work, Stu and I retired to Nets Café to sample the cakes on offer: I had a lovely slice of Bara Brith to go with my cappuccino, while Stu had Coffee and walnut cake with his. Very pleasant.

  • An Avian Array at RSPB Burton

    (Sunday 25th May, 2025)

        Stu and I went across to Burton Mere Wetlands, the RSPB’s nature reserve on the Wirral. It was very windy as we got out the car, so it was good to get inside the relative calm of the visitor centre. Initially, it was just us and the staff, but that soon changed as people began to arrive. I tried to list what we saw – we were pointing out different species to each other like excited children – although one or two observations may be wrong. (I’ve indicated where we were uncertain). There was certainly plenty for us to see!

        There were lots of Avocets, many of which had paired, and some of which were schooling their young – although it looked like the chicks were managing the distinctive ‘scooping’ action in the shallows without any instruction. There were a couple of Oystercatchers and, looking closer, we realised that these also had chicks, which they were keeping close by. As I was watching the Oystercatchers, I caught a glimpse of a couple of ducks leading their brood of six ducklings against the current to a quiet spot where there was just a lone Black-headed gull and a foraging Moorhen.

    Avian array

    At first, I thought that the ducks were Mallards but something didn’t quite add up. I looked again and saw that the male had a cinnamon underbelly, unlike the Mallard drake, and that his bill was distinctly wider: thus did I spot my first Northern shoveller (with help from my bird identification book!)

        There were four Shelducks, a Crow and a Magpie amongst a host of Black-headed gulls. So far, so good. However, I then saw what I at first thought were Goldeneyes, a species I had never encountered outside of a book. My reasoning was simple: they had yellow eyes. It was only later that I found out that the UK also hosts other yellow-eyed ducks including Tufted ducks and Scaups. (I discounted the Northern shoveller due to its plumage differing, although this too has yellow eyes). Unfortunately, the only thing I can be sure of is that my original assessment that they were Goldeneyes was wrong: I thought Scaups because I couldn’t see any tufts, but I believe these are rarer than Tufted ducks in our UK waters. It shall remain a mystery.

        We exited the visitor centre and travelled around to the hide a little bit further west. On the way we took in marsh marigolds, red campion, buttercups, pyramid orchids, hogweed and teasel. There were a couple of male Chaffinches arguing over some seeds in one of the feeders, and we were lucky enough to see an almost motionless Little egret move from its reedy hideout in one of the ponds. Stu took some photographs of a Canada goose – or, rather, the slender neck and head of a Canada goose as it peered above its section of reeds too. We looked in vain for the Marsh harrier that can often be seen from this hide: perhaps next time.

        We then moved to the farthest hide where we saw a Lapwing duo and about a dozen or so Black-tailed godwits probing the shallow waters with their long orange and black bills. These godwits were all displaying pale orange to brick-red plumage, which I am informed is its ‘breeding plumage’, although there is no evidence of chicks just yet*.

    The important stuff

        We then went to the café for our customary cappuccinos, which we thought prudent to accompany with lemon (Stu) and blueberry (me) muffins, which rounded off a lovely morning!

    *Apparently, very few Black-tailed godwits actually breed in the UK, although no-breeding numbers are increasing rapidly as a result of agricultural changes in Iceland, where most of the UK birds come from (Black-tailed Godwit | BTO)