Marbury Country Park and Budworth Mere

Sketch map: Marbury Country Park and surrounds

Marbury Country Park is a mix of open pasture and woodland just North of Northwich. Immediately to the North is Budworth Mere, to the South are the Northwich Woodlands and to the Southeasr is Neumann's Flash. The 8A bus between Northwich and Warrington via Comberbach stops outside the Western entrance to the country park, you will need to check the times as they're not very frequent. Alternatively you can walk in from Northwich:

• Walk down Warrington Old Road but instead of turning off onto the paths around the flashes keep on going and you'll get onto Marbury Lane.
• Walking along the North bank of Neumann's Flash you can either take the path through Dairy House Meadows and cross the metal footbridge over the Trent and Mersey Canal or you can carry on round and join the path leading to Marbury Lane.

The walk in from Northwich makes for a nice afternoon stroll and is pretty easy going, especially if you stick to the main paths.

Nuthatch

The birdlife is mostly what you would expect from a piece of Cheshire countryside: woodpigeons, corvids and buzzards out in the open and the standard suite of woodland birds. Look out for lesser spotted woodpeckers in the woods, you may have more luck than me. And of course any piece of woodland is worth checking out in Autumn and Winter for waifs and strays.

Marbury Country Park 

Big Wood 

Budworth Mere is a good-sized lake with a mixture of woodlands along the South bank, reedbeds on the West and a mixture of woods, farmland and sailing club facilities on the North, It's worth checking out for passage migrants: common scoters, little gulls and black terns sometimes stop by. It's also worth looking out for bitterns in Winter.

Budworth Mere 

There are enough paths and walks for a good wander round in pleasant surroundings and a couple of hours' decent birdwatching,