IF you fancy an all-the-year-round birdwatch in an area which is unique in Britain then you should plan a trip to the Meres of Cheshire and Shropshire.

This week I spent a wonderful day in glorious sunshine watching the birds around Ellesmere. From East Lancashire this is reached via the M6, M56 and A49.

The Meres were formed at the end of the Ice Age when huge slabs of melting glaciers ground out hollows which later filled with water. They are unusual in the sense that they do not have rivers either running into or out of them. They are therefore areas of still water and very rich in wildlife. At the Mere at Ellesmere there is a visitors' centre and a couple of excellent car parks and picnic sites. During the summer a motorboat does a circular tour around the Mere and there are rowing boats for hire. Out on the water I saw a family of great crested grebes and one of the adults was forcing one of its chicks to eat feathers.

Scientists think that they do this to prevent them damaging their intestines as they digest the fish with very sharp bones. The bones are wrapped up in a pellet of feathers which is then coughed up through the mouth.

Around the Mere were lots of Canada geese and mallards begging for scraps from those enjoying a picnic by the Mere.

One mallard was obviously too hot because he kept splashing his webbed feet in the water and then holding them in the sun. Birds cannot sweat like we do to keep cool but the water evaporating from the feet of the crafty bird had the same effect.

We should all think twice before we use the phrase "bird brain" - they are quite bright really!

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.