Visitors to Marshside just outside Southport could be forgiven for being confused by new signs for the reserve, promoting a "wetland wilderness."
The site is currently dry as a bone in a Temperance Hall, with Nel's Hide, overlooking the "Marshside One" section of the reserve closed at present due to "lack of water and birds." Quite.
You can spend more time looking for grasshoppers and the site's short winged coneheads (they lurk around the path on the north side of the sandwinning plant) than birds, but it wasn't bad on Sunday before the high tide.
Two marsh harriers, both young birds came batting along the edge of the estuary, spooking grey plovers, knot, dunlin and ringed plovers, while a pair of peregrines cruised the wader flocks looking for an easy lunch.
A male wheatear foraged amongst the dock plants in the aptly named "wheatear corner" and swallows streamed south _ despite the hot sun, autumn is on the way.
Migrant hawker dragonflies are out now, and yellow wagtail, goldfinches and meadow pipits were on the move too.
Best bird was a nuthatch, only the second record for the area, which we watched briefly as it called in tall trees before flying off to the east, and more woodland cover.
As autumn deepens we'll hopefully get more rain, but it's going to take a major monsoon to fill up the creeks and dried-out fields before the reserve starts to transform into the "wetland wilderness" it can be in winter.
This time last year, the first pink footed geese arrived in Lancashire from Iceland _ ridiculously early, will they turn up prematurely again this year?
Meanwhile getting sunstroke on the forbidding plateau of Marshide's formidable Mount Baker has been the order of the day for the last week or two.
With strong winds forecast for this week, we may have seawatching, or even a yankee wader or two to contend with for the weekend, here's hoping...
Don't forget my Daily Post column this Saturday _ bats and moths are on the menu.
Eyes to the skies everyone, eyes to the skies.
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