{"id":19561,"date":"2022-09-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-19T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=19561"},"modified":"2022-09-22T10:28:06","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T08:28:06","slug":"wings-of-the-wirral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/2022\/09\/20\/wings-of-the-wirral\/","title":{"rendered":"Wings of the wirral"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
DAY OUT: <\/strong>Burton Mere Wetlands, Cheshire\/Flintshire <\/h5>\n\n

Wings of the wirral<\/h2>\n\n

Neil Coates <\/strong>journeys to the England-Wales border where one of the RSPB\u2019s most active autumn reserves hums with honking geese, whistling starlings and ke-ke-ke-ing <\/em>hen harriers <\/p>\n\n

\"\"
Star species! Hen Harrier
<\/strong>Extraordinary hen harriers, over-wintering from northern moors, hunt almost every species here. Among the UK\u2019s rarest birds, they deftly pluck their prey \u2013 birds and mammals \u2013 from the pastures and sea-marshes.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

Out with the old, in with the new. Autumn is a season of considerable flux at the superb coastal RSPB reserve of Burton Mere. <\/p>\n\n

Tucked into the south-west corner of The Wirral peninsula, this liminal landscape beside \u2013 and in \u2013 the huge Dee Estuary thrums with seasonal activity. It\u2019s among a string of reserves and locations in one of the UK\u2019s best birdwatching areas, where summer\u2019s departing visitors are replaced by fresh new feathers seeking climatic sanctuary.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

DEE DELIGHTS <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n

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\u2019s waterside larders. Elegant whooper swans migrate here from Iceland to escape the brutal winters there; their honking call is a defining sound of autumn\u2019s arrival. <\/p>\n\n

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\u2019ve become well-established here over the past 20 years. More recently, great white and cattle egrets have regularly visited. <\/p>\n\n

SKY HUNTERS <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n

Occasional starling murmurations \u2013 hypnotic, wavering patterns in the sky \u2013 may grace nearby Little Neston\u2019s 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\u2019s sinuous creeks and ephemeral waters. <\/p>\n\n

<\/div>
\n
Tweet of the Day <\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Join Northern Ireland wildlife blogger Dara McAnulty for his first-hand encounter with a hen harrier. BBC Radio 4, available on BBC Sounds<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

Neil Coates <\/strong>is a Manchester-based writer specialising in walking and pubs. <\/p>\n\n

Photos: RSPB Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neil Coates journeys to the England-Wales border where one of the RSPB\u2019s most active autumn reserves hums with honking geese, whistling starlings and ke-ke-ke-ing hen harriers <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":19965,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"91","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"91","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_91-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_91-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"October-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"October-2022","purple_external_id":"October-2022-91-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"October-2022-91-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000084061||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000084061||","purple_android_product":"com.im.countryfile.195","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.countryfile.195","purple_ios_product":"com.im.countryfile.195","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.countryfile.195","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"91da22fd-9e7f-40d1-a93f-fc46e9516d91","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[30],"tags":[14],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/2117188-scaled.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/2117188-scaled.jpg",2315,2560,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/2117188-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/2117188-271x300.jpg",271,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/2117188-768x849.jpg",768,849,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/2117188-926x1024.jpg",800,885,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/2117188-1389x1536.jpg",1389,1536,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/45\/2022\/09\/2117188-1852x2048.jpg",1852,2048,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Neil Coates journeys to the England-Wales border where one of the RSPB\u2019s most active autumn reserves hums with honking geese, whistling starlings and ke-ke-ke-ing hen harriers","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19561"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19561"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19561\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20106,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19561\/revisions\/20106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbccountryfile\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}