A dramatic natural event will be witnessed this month when Spring tides come flowing into Parkgate marsh. RSPB Dee Estuary Nature Reserve at Parkgate.

Such tides only happen on a handful of occasions each year. If the weather conditions are right, they are so high they flood the entire saltmarsh.

The marsh is an RSPB nature reserve and its spokesman Paul Brady said the flowing tide sparks a "wildlife spectacle."

The more secretive birds and creatures that normally live there, like water rails, snipe, harvest mice, and water voles, flee the rising tide and are brought closer inland.

This in turn can attract the most amazing birds of prey, like ghostly grey hen harriers, gliding short-eared owls, and high speed merlins as well as the majestic grey herons and little egrets who take advantage of the situation.

Mr Brady, RSPB visitor development officer, said: “Watching the tide surge towards you with the Welsh hills as a stunning backdrop is thrilling.

"Add to that the sights and sounds of huge flocks of birds, along with the excitement of expert predators doing what they do best, makes it an experience to remember.”

He added: “The wildlife can come so close on these tides that one year someone actually had a bird that’s normally very hard to see, a water rail, hiding in his rucksack!”

In the winter, the marshland of the Dee Estuary is an internationally important habitat for a vast numbers of ducks and wading birds.

The free RSPB High Tide Bird Watch events are running on Saturday, February 19, at 10am; Sunday February 20, at 11am and Monday, February 21, at 11.30am.

Everyone is welcome to come along to the Old Baths Car Park, Parkgate, where expert staff and volunteers will be on hand to showcase the action.

Further details of these events can be obtained from the link below or by phoning 0151 336 7681.