Youngest daughter loves Spike Island and the chemical museum. So we went to visit there this morn on the promise we walk from Pickering Pasture "as it was such a nice day"........which of course meant stopping at the picnic bench halfway, just before the Runcorn rail/road viaducts at Parsonage Road for a look at the ducks/waders/gulls and a very obliging birder already there put me straight onto the Kumlien's Gull on the West Bank sandflats. (I must admit, I'd have had it as a white-winger but not got the diamonds diagnostics for Kumlien's...but right place right time fluke!). 30 years to the date of my first Iceland Gull at Mersey Road the other side of the bridge.

Gatewarth
AM
2 Chiffchaff singing
1 Cettis Warbler
5 plus Buzzards soariung over. Vocal.

Wigg Island 11:30-12:15pm

Two Buzzard, Pied Wagtail, 106 Shelduck on the Mersey before the high tide came, 17 Curlew, one Redshank, seven cormorant and 17 Siskin in the Alders where the path from the Ship Canal comes in.

Thinking of duck action, knowing everywhere else was frozen a four mile walk along the Mersey east from Woolston Weir.

127 Tufted Duck and two Goldeneye, plus a Little Grebe, Mallard, Gadwall and Black-headed Gull on Woolston Weir Basin. 

Heading east up river four Teal, one Shelduck, six Shoveler, a further 121 Tufted Duck, Kingfisher, 12 Canada Geese, Kestrel, Greenfinch, House and Tree Sparrow by Horse Paddocks, Buzzard by M6, Mute Swans + 2 cygnets, plenty of Wrens, couple Reed Bunting, single Lapwing, turned left at Bluebell Wood to go over the field to Rixton and a Green Woodpecker flew out and headed east,nor,east toward the direction of Rixton Claypits.

After a first look around the East End of Moore and wondering where all the birds had gone a yomp following the Mersey via Arpley fields and Bridge to the Sankey Canal and then down to look over Richmond Bank and back was required.

Six+two Goosander flew upstream as I first passed over Arpley Bridge, just too far away from Moore NR to be a Moore 'patch tick'.

Great Spotted Woodpecker on the Canal. Mistle Thrush, plenty of Blackbirds, Coot, Moorhen, two Gadwall, Mute Swan family inc three juvs, Water Rail and seven Redwing.

A series of pools (leachate?) are being constructed on the Mersey Bank overlooking Richmond Bank which was just being covered by water as I arrived so gulls and waders had cleared off. A buzzard was being hassled by two Ravens over Moore capped tip to the south.

On the return a Grey Wagtail was flitting around Gatewarth sewage plant.

4,700 -5,000 Gulls (predominantley larger than smaller) and 800+ Canada Geese on the new sandbank forming under the middle tower of the Mersey Gateway Bridge at 15:00. (Tide was high still at this point).

Unfortunately I was driving over the bridge and whilst we were in a high sided vehicle the passenger took plenty of photos looking above the Plexiglass parapets onto the sandbank they were only good enough to identify gull / goose but did a bit of photochopping tonight to estimate numbers.

Is this bank going to become the new Richmond Bank with gulls feeding at the recycle yard in Widnes?

I don't think you can get close to view the bank on the Wigg Island side so the Sankey Canal on the North side probably provides the best views.

Richmond Bank - two Great Black-backed Gulls, eight Herring Gull, 42 Black-headed Gull, 860 Lapwing, Cormorants.

Paddington meadows,

Yesterday, blackbird, song thrush, blackcap, robin,cettis warbler seen by mersey,mallard, gadwall, coot,moorhen, woodpigeon, kestrel, magpie ,carrion crow ,greenfinch, goldfinch, bullfinch, buzzards displaying, blue tit, great  tit, long tailed tit ,swallow 3

Gatewarth AM
Still impossible to access site along River so I strolled along canal and railway for a bit, which is all that can really be done atm here, sadly
warblers heard and/or seen :
3 plus Reed Warblers
5 plus Willow Warblers
2 Chiffchaff
2 Cettis Warblers
2 Whitethroat

Also present, a pair of Linnets and several singing Reed Bunting

Male Wheatear on ploughed field west of Arpley landfill.

Redshank and Dunlin down river from Richmond Bank

Fiddlers Ferry Marina
Yesterday AM
Seen and/or heard singing

Min 4 Chiffchaff
Min 7 Reed Bunting
1 Skylark (fields far side)
1 Cettis Warbler

-- Edited by John O'Neill on Monday 21st of March 2022 09:33:05 AM

Chiffchaff at Gateworth by filter beds at lunch. Not heard to sing nor was light good enough to be sure that the sub-species was anything other than normal.

1 Grey Wagtail present and two Black-headed Gulls showing nice fresh hoods.

Sunday 19th did a full loop of the Mersey from Warrington to the old Runcorn Bridge, outwards via Lower Walton, Arpley, Gatewarth, down the Sankey Canal to Spike Island, over the old Runcorn Bridge, down the Bridgewater, cut back onto Wigg Island, down the north bank of the Manchester Ship Canal to Halfway House and just after Round Cherval cutting through to Norton Marsh, then back into Moore NR via the feeding station, past Birchwood Pool, down to the Mersey at Unilever and back to the MSC at The Stag in Upper Walton.

Nothing of note whatsoever! 18 miles and two blisters for at best 8 Teal on the ship canal and one Kingfisher at Gateworth. Few gulls about but all ordinary. Nothing on the pools at Moore. Though I forgot how long 18 miles takes to walk and how early dark comes in the winter, it was almost pitch black after Birchwood Pool at 4:50pm. But also very quiet. Got home to South Warrington to hear Tawny' calling. But none on Moore NR?

Edited to add: There appears a very distinct sandbank / Island building up in the landward side of the Mersey from the central pier of the new bridge. It is covered in green vegetation which suggests and looks from the height it isn't being covered by most tides. I did have a friend many years ago via work [lost touch, their company was something like Euntec or Anauser can't remember now, think Euntec were taken over anyway] in the "planning preconditioning / future environmental monitoring" which stated that there was going to be 30 years monitoring of the change of the ecology of the river.

Looks at the mo like a nice potential breeding island might be building up there? Or could that sandbank change the flow for other waders / curlew / gulls which sit around the Wigg area. There certainly seems much less flow now on the South side at low tide at Wigg compared to that at Spike Island (random anecdotal conjuncture from 20 - 30 visits to both this year). Moore was very poor for waders this year on the pools (high water, diversion of underground springs from capping Arpley being mentioned by one of the Farmers that works both the Moss Side fields and maintenance on the Landfill).

-- Edited by Andy Slee on Tuesday 21st of December 2021 09:23:01 PM

Taking advantage of a friends a offer of canoeing (technically we were in a two man kayak) on the Mersey as some of this weeks high tides had a slight potential for a Mersey bore (no where near as spectacular as the Severn bore, but can be strong enough to push you without having to paddle).

We portaged in at Pickerings Pasture at 13:00 two and a bit hours before high tide at Warrington end of the Mersey and thirty minutes later we were drifting past Spike Island, which got a bit choppy past Runcorn Rocks. Shelduck watched us (no Ruddy ones), Little Egrets took flight. Plenty of Canada and greylag geese to the West of the new Mersey crossing. We had wanted to try and take the channel on the Wigg Island side but the wind direction meant for passive travelling (sitting as still as possible, no paddling, just using the foot rudders to stay in the flow) we had to stay in the lee on the Northern channel.

We nearly grounded going under the new Mersey bridge, there seems to be a sand bar building on the North side of the river there. 

Five buzzards circulated over Fiddlers Ferry PS. 

Drifting on at 14:20 we passed Penketh Bar where a small gull roost (mainly Black-headed Gulls, but a few Lesser Black Backs) was still present. 30 curlew were on the Bar plus a few small waders, Redshank I'm guessing, but with googles on (don't want to flip over into the Mersey and get that water in your eyes, even if just from the sand disturbed by the tide) and bins in drypac bags id not fully possible apart from the redshank jizz the birds displayed. At this point the flow was strong enough and direct enough only minor rudder corrections were needed, still no paddling so we were able to stay still and not make movements that might disturb birds. Ten minutes later past Penketh Bank a few further minutes later and Richmond Bank, which had only a last half football field of dry sand present; devoid of avians except a last few Comorants and Corvids.

Lots of Corvids on the north side of the Arpley Landfill (000s). A grey wagtail was on the humpback bridge over the river.

Into the rush as the river narrows and enters a concrete channel (~4mph is rushing when not paddling in a kayak). It is quite surreal to be sat motionless yet watch the world go by. A peregrine swooped from the Unilever factory silo over the river. We drifted on towards the railway bridge at Morely Common where our exit awaited. Four mallards (2m, 2f) gave us looks like they weren't happy with us being there. 

A finch flock contained mostly Chaffinch but also two or three Brambling as we were exiting the canal (note unless the tide is high, the mud here is very hard to get any grip on, it is more like Angel Delight texture than solid mud).

Next time, we're going to come down from Warrington portaging in at Chester Road and morr (sp?) with an anchor in a channel we saw south of Richmond Bank so we can let the water drop and have helmets and goggles off, cameras / bins / scopes out of the drypac bags one we are beached and attach to bank / mud anchor until the tide returns, which we guess is a 5-7 hr duration.

Going to need a lot of Bovril for that!