Wildlife at Burton Mere

Between the woods and the water, lagoons, scrapes, reedbeds, marshes, pastures and copses all offer the potential for plentiful sightings during a restful visit. Accessible paths and boardwalks lead from the visitor centre straight to the action; several diversely located hides may reward with black-tailed godwits, snipe, lapwings, redshanks, elusive ruffs and many other wading birds. 

October also sees the arrival of pink-footed geese – over 20,000 fly in from far North Atlantic islands; their filigree skeins etch twilight skies as they return from foraging the Dee’s waterside larders. Elegant whooper swans migrate here from Iceland to escape the brutal winters there; their honking call is a defining sound of autumn’s arrival.

You may also like:

• Britain’s best autumn wildlife spectacles
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• Guide to wading birds: how to identify and where to see

Little egrets, lining up like nodding donkeys to probe the shallows for elusive prey, appear ungainly in their tree-branch roosts, secure from predators. They’ve become well-established here over the past 20 years. More recently, great white and cattle egrets have regularly visited.

A highlight of any visit must be the raptors, which enliven autumn here. Kestrels scour pastureland, while majestic marsh harriers flap languorously across the marsh. As do short-eared owls. Both species hunt small mammals. Peregrines and
hen harriers harry the feeding flocks as they scout for potential victims.

Occasional starling murmurations – hypnotic, wavering patterns in the sky – may grace nearby Little Neston’s reedbeds. Visit the cosy marsh-side Harp Inn towards dusk and see what develops as daylight fades behind the hills of Wales, beyond the estuary’s sinuous creeks and ephemeral waters.