A Morning Stroll Around RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands NR 29th October 2025

The view across RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands NR towards Moel Famau.

A Grey heron, one of four in this fallen tree in The Mere.

A Great white egret hiding on The Mere.

Woodland Pool.

A Great white egret seen from the Reedbed Screen.

Two Lapwings on Centenary Pool.

Two Black tailed godwits on Centenary Pool.

A male Teal on Centenary Pool.

Black headed gulls on Centenary Pool.

A Common gull, Lapwings and a Teal on Centenary Pool.

Another male Teal on Centenary Pool.

The weather was too good to sit at home before heading to my Record Roundup Meeting in the afternoon.

Birdwatching for a couple of hours at RSPB Burton mere NR seemed like the best option.

In all it was a very leisurely walk of just under 3 miles, done in warm sunshine.  However , it wasn't warm enough for the Common lizard to make a showing on the usual fence.

Birds seen or heard on my visit today included: Common coot, Teal, Shelduck, Shoveler, Great white egret, Grey Heron, Mallard, Gadwall, Lapwing, Jackdaw, Raven, Carrion crow, Great tit, Blue tit, Common chaffinch, Goldfinch, Winter wren, Water rail, Pink footed goose and Long tailed tit.

A RIGS Trail Around Mold 25th October 2025

My first port of call Mold Market.

The stall where I purchased my Snowdrops.

Lloyds Bank building.

I think this used to be the Scope charity shop.

The Llys-yr-Efail sign.

Bethesda Chapel.

The two plaques at Bethesda Chapel.

The Daniel Owen Statue.

St. Mary's Church.

Is this one of the limestone pillars mentioned on the trail leaflet?

Sheep sheltering from the wind, but still in the Sun.

A path that I need to explore sometime in the future.

Part of the old track heading towards the town centre.

The Afon Alun west of the bridge.

The Afon Alun flood plain.

The Afon Alun looking east of the bridge.

The Old Court House.

The Old Court House plaque.

The Millennium Clock with granite stones around the base.

The sculpture at the Bus Station.

My last port of call for pint of Lees bitter.

Distance: 3.0 miles. Climb: 200'. 

Time: 1 hour 45 minutes.
Overall walk average: 1.8 m.p.h.
Temperature: 9 Celsius. Feel like 5 Celsius, quite warm in the Sun and out of the wind.
BWF: 4 Moderate breeze.
The first port of call this morning was Mold Market to buy some Snowdrop bulbs.
Next was to call in at The Cold Cape for breakfast.
My walk today was The Rigs Trail Around Mold. I was able to find most of the things on the trail, despite shops and banks no longer existing.
Lloyds bank was the first, made from local sandstone. The next was supposed to be The Scope charity shop, but is now a betting shop. Here the base of the shop is made from igneous larvikite. Next came the Llys-yr-Efail sign made from a fast cooling igneous rock. Bethesda Chapel came next. The top plaque is made of marble on slate, whereas the bottom one is made from marble on polished basalt. Next came the Daniel Owen memorial is made from limestone and sandstone. St
Mary's church came next, like Lloyds bank it was made from sandstone.
The War Memorial, starts with a quartz stone at the bottom of the steps, while the memorial itself is made of marble.
I finished the walk by going down the road to the bridge over the Afon Alun and heading up Chester Street to the bus station.
An enjoyable and interesting walk, despite getting caught in a few showers.

Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB NR and West Kirby Marine Lake 22nd October 2025

A fine Weeping willow in the garden at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands.

Woodland Pool.

Mallards on Woodland Pool.

Centenary Pool.

A Lapwing and Teal on the Centenary Pool.

A Lapwing and Black tailed godwit on Centenary Pool.

A delightful section of wooded path at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands.

A reedy area with lots Reed mace (Bullrushes).

Looking across RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands towards Connah's Quay Power Station and Moel Famau.

Looking across West kirby Marine Lake towards Hilbre.

I slightly closer view of Hilbre.

The reason why I couldn't go around the Marine Lake at this point in time.

A female Goosander on West Kirby Marine Lake.

The walkway looks just about passable!

Turnstones on the rocks at West Kirby Marine Lake.

Two more Turnstones on West Kirby Marine Lake rocks.

Distance: 4.9 miles. Climb: 100'.
Time: 1 hour 50 minutes. Overall walking average: 2.8 m.p.h.
Temperature: Around 10 – 17 Celsius, although it felt much warmer in the Sun as I approached the car after going around the Marine Lake.
BWF: 0-1 – no more than Light air at the most.
The weather forecast for today, looked too good to miss, so on the absence of any willing walkers, I decided to do a bit of birdwatching at the same time as getting in a few steps.
The first port of call was RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands NR, where I expected to see most birds.
It was much quieter than I expected, but it was a very pleasant visit in the warm sunshine. The downside, was the bright Sun at times made seeing the true colours of the birds difficult.
The birds seen and heard at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands today included: Black tailed godwit, Black headed gull, Herring gull, Raven, Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Common coot, Mallard, Coal tit, Blue tit, Great tit, Long tailed tit, European robin, Cetti warbler, Winter wren, Teal, Pintail, Canada goose, Greylag goose, Goldfinch, Shelduck, Shoveler and Lapwing.
After a couple of hours at RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands NR, I headed for West Kirby, where I hoped to be able to walk around the Marine Lake. I arrived at West Kirby, just about at the time the tide was at its highest, and found that I was too early to walk around the Lake! Even worse, the only birds that I saw on the Lake were two Great cormorants and a few Black headed gulls! Later on, I did see one female Goosander and about 50 Turnstones that flew onto the rocks by the Old Marine Lake Baths.
After walking up and down the Marine Parade, I did eventually walk around the sea side of the Lake. The tide had over-topped the Marine Lake, and water was still draining away over the path as I set off. I was only wearing my canvas walking boots, so I ended up with two wet feet, but it was worth it!
Overall, an enjoyable few hours, much better than staying at home and doing some household chores or visiting Mold Market to et some Snowdrop bulbs!

Rhosesmor, Moel y Gaer, Catch, Halkyn Mountain, Windmill and the Blue Bell.

St. Paul's Church, Rhosesmor.

Inside St. Paul's Church, Rhosesmor.

Resident doves at Rhosesmor.

The approach to the ramparts on Moel y Gaer.

Looking towards the River Dee from Moel y Gaer ramparts.

Distant views of the twin masts at Catch Wireless Station. 

The two masts at Catch look a bit closer now.

First views of Moel Famau from south of Windmill.

The mast at Windmill on the skyline.

The Clydian Hills from the trig point on Halkyn Mountain.

At the trig point on Halkyn Mountain.

All three Halkyn masts, but looks like the Windmill mast has more transmitters.

The leaving of Windmill.

The stone quarry near Moel-y-crio, viewed from Windmill.

The road leading to Halkyn.

There used to be a shop and Post Office in this building!

Not far to go now!

Distance: 5.2 miles. Climb: 500'.
Time: 1 hour 50 minutes. Overall walking average: 2.8 m.p.h.
Temperature: Around 10 Celsius, but feeling cooler.
BWF: 2 – a Light breeze at most on higher more exposed area.
The day started with breakfast at The Gold Cape in Mold before catching the 10-20 bus to Rhosesmor. Delayed for a few minutes while a dog owner cleaned up the message that her dog left!
Arriving at Rhosesmor, my first port of call was visit St. Paul's Church, as it was open. I understood that more money had been spent on this church than any other church on the area. However, I was more impressed with the St. Mary the Virgin Church at Halkyn with its Halkyn marble pillars. The walk today went to the trig point on Halkyn Mountain via Catch. The return route crossed the Billins on the way to Windmill. Finally taking the road back to Halkyn and the Blue Bell.
It was rather overcast with distant views never very clear, although the Clwydians hills were still easy to identify.
Plenty of dog walkers out, in fact one took the photo of me at the trig point. Crossing Moel y Gaer and Halkyn Mountain, there was a noticeable cool wind, and I wore my fleece throughout the walk. Birds seen or heard today included: European robin, House sparrow, Dove, Carrion crow, Jackdaw, Common starling, Long tailed tit, Woodpigeon, Black billed magpie and Goldfinch.
Overall an enjoyable walk, followed by a couple of excellent pints of Lees Bitter in the blue Bell.
I ended up talking to local who regularly goes down the mine tunnels that run below Halkyn Mountain. Apparently, there are sixty miles of tunnels running from Loggerheads all the way to Bagillt. He showed me a video of the railway engine, still operational many years after the real mining had stopped. He was going down tomorrow to help replace an old ladder with anew aluminium ladder, but it would be a 2.5-mile journey on the railway engine, just to get to it! He had lots of fascinating things to say about the underground tunnel system, but I couldn’t stop to hear them all, as I had a bus to catch!