Black-tailed Godwit

There’s breakfast in the garden (Californian eggs with tomatoes and avocados - chard and spinach freshly gathered from the garden), then a little later our compulsory visit to the local ice cream emporium - ‘Churn and Chill’.  If you are ever in the Hoylake area, this tiny family enterprise really is a must, serving most gorgeous homemade ice cream in delicious flavours.  It’s always tough to choose, so just as with my blips, extras are a must! Today for me it’s Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt, White Chocolate and Raspberry, and Lemon and Basil Sorbet. Delicious! 

We say goodbye to Daniel and Solveig, leaving them to salvage what they have left of their Sunday, and make our way to Burton Mere Wetlands. It seems ages since we’ve been here, and we’d forgotten just what a joy it is to visit. I’m too tired today to do more than walk around one of the lakes, reflections glorious in the dappled sunlight.  Dragonflies zoom past at lightning speed, but the butterflies are more sedate. I get my first shot ever of a skipper, and a speckled wood poses obligingly. A tufted duck paddles elegantly across the water, reflected perfectly, and a mallard grooms in water purple from reflected blooms. Then as we return to the visitors’ centre, there’s a heron too. 

All this has been within a short walk of the entry, and whilst Burton offers long walks through the countryside, for me today I’m very grateful that I can access all this bird life with the minimum effort. The visitor’s centre offers views across the scrapes, filled to the brim with bird life. There’s so much more to see here than in Conwy! Of course the stars - for me at least - are the avocets and black-tailed godwits, the latter bright in close-to breeding plumage. While it’s wonderful to see all this bird life from this vantage point, in photographic terms, it’s at the very limits of my 600mm lens  - or probably beyond. 

The better captures in terms of quality are certainly those taken round the lake, but I feel the gorgeous godwits have to shine today. I’m torn between the trio feeding and the one that’s taking off (or landing) above the avocets. There’s a godwit flock and lake collage in extras.