Weds Aug 10th. 09.30 - 12.30 hrs.

Heswall Shore.

17 Little Egret.
1 Great White Egret.
30 - 40 Oystercatcher.
1000 + Shelduck.
5000 Redshank.
1400 Curlew.

These last two counts I have taken from Deebirding as I had run out of fingers & toes to count the swirling flocks.

I then carried on to Burton & IMF to make up my treble with the Cattle Egret plus the other rarities present.

Great day out in the sunshine.

Roger.

-- Edited by Roger Baker 3 on Wednesday 10th of September 2014 11:51:01 PM

This afternoon: Purple Sandpiper on the rocks south of "Pirate Ship", Tower Foreshore, Egremont

Brief trip to Hoylake yday despite a middling tide

Biting winds and ate a lot more sand than is probably healthy!

Highlight was 1 common scoter (drake) on the beach.
Several dunlin, knot, sanderling, redshank, ringed plover, cormorants and gulls (nothing unusual amongst them that I could see).
1 probable manx shearwater at sea but too far out to tell for sure

Most of the waders in s/pl which was nice

Visit up to Leasowe Lighthouse today after Pennington Flash.
Started off at the end of Pasture Rd where it meets Leasowe Rd and Lingham Rd and walked not quite as far as the Gunsight on the seafront. Then went over to the Lighthouse and walked out the other way up to the rocky outcrop.

Of note:
Plenty of Black-headed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls incl juv,
Not as many Lesser Black-backed Gulls and only 1 Common Gull.

Wind was atrocious and resulted in the smaller birds seeking refuge where they could. Amongst the rocks were uncountable Redshank,
Turnstone,
Plenty of Oystercatcher
Ringed Plover
Starling
1 Dunlin choosing to brave it out by sitting in an aerodynamic shape on the slopes leading down to the waters edge,
2 Curlew
A few Swallows and House Martin ... 1 of the latter trying to seek cover from the wind on the ground near me
Plenty of Cormorant

Also quite a few little birds in singles and pairs of Finch-type and Warbler-type being relentlessly blown around and disappearing as they were hurled over me into the surrounding paddocks and vegetation. Only ones I managed to identify were a pair of Linnet which stopped on the seafront wall before risking it again. My eyes were streaming with the piercing wind.

A pleasant few hours over high tide at Leasowe Gunsight this afternoon. Although there were no Manx Shearwaters to be seen there were plenty of other species about with the groyne behind Leasowe Castle packed with Redshank, Turnstone, Ringed Plover, Dunlin and Oystercatchers. On the sand, Pied Wagtails taking insects and 4-5 Wheatear flitting about. Also present several Cormorant, good numbers of Hirundines and 5 gull species including Common Gulls.

Watched a male and a juvenile Marsh Harrier from our table in the Boathouse Inn restaurant Parkgate early this afternoon

Must have been following in your footsteps!

Nothing like eating fish'n'chips on Parkgate front watching a Marsh Harrier hunting over the estuary

A dawn start this morning. A wander around Neston Marsh and Neston Sewage works area.

Great spotted Woodpecker feeding a very hungry youngster in tree hole.
Tawny owl coming in to roost in same area.
Single Grasshopper warbler.
Good numbers of Reed warbler, Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat.
Singles of Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow warbler.

A couple of hours after lunch around Leasowe lighthouse. Really warm as I arrived with nothing unusual around. Blackcap, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Willow warbler and Reed warbler all evident. Then the sea mist rolled in and noticably cooler. So I made my way back through the paddocks hoping the weather had dropped some migrants. I was rewarded with 8 Wheatear. 3 Whinchat and 3 Yellow wagtail.

26th april, leasowe, 1-8.30pm

after 3 hours waiting around for the NIGHT HERON I decided to give up, got about 50yds down the road & the little blighter flew right over my head, got some decent pics also lifer

other birds around...

grasshopper warbler reeling away then eventually showed itself about 15ft away
2 sedge warblers seen, more heard as were reed warblers
12 yellow wagtails inc what was first thought to be a blue headed then was reported as a channel wagtail
2 whinchats
at least 8 wheatears
whitethroats, blackcaps & chiffchaffs all around, surprisingly no willow warblers seen or heard
few swallows, sand martins & house martins
1 kestrel
1 buzzard
1 little egret & 1 shelduck on the beach, tide was well out.
lots of linnets around
plus all the usuals.

a great aft/eve birding

Surprisingly disappointing day yesterday at Leasowe, few hours but very few migrants and almost nothing on the sea except a few very distant and unidentified (even with a scope ) gulls, a couple of curlew flew in too.

Around the horse paddocks:

Lots of linnet including at least 3 singing males and a female collecting nesting material.
Skylarks singing (good views of one singing on the ground too, which was odd)
Single male wheatear in a paddock just as I was leaving
46 curlew flew in from sheep fields, presumably going to roost (1 was feeding close by in a paddock earlier in the afternoon)

Lots of the common tits and finches, several blackbirds (none of which were ouzels), 2 mistle thrush as well

Hi Paul.
The consolation of missing a Male Ring ouzel, having never seen one, was that I was only there late afternoon so didnt miss it as such. Yes the Skylark provide really close views and I see a pair on every visit. Having never seen anything really rare here, the history of it doing so, still attracts visits for me this time of year.

A quick mooch around Leasowe lighthouse produced 20 Wheatear with quite a few corking coloured males. Majority of them were in the marshy field adjacent to carpark. Sizeable flocks of Meadow pipit constantly moving in off the sea. I didnt check the horse paddocks so could have missed a good few other birds.

Went up to parkgate last Sunday. The highlight was 2 ringtail hen harriers, and other decent sightings included kestrels, skylarks, little egrets and a fox on the marsh

A quick lunchtime trip to Riverbank Road, Heswall, to coincide with high tide produced 3 ringtail Hen Harrier, Kestrel and a very active Merlin. No Short-eared Owls seen though by me today

Brian Baird wrote:

---

A visit to the Wirral for the high tide spectacular at Hoylake was I imagine hugely disappointing for a good number of Birders today.

However I started at New Brighton ML before the tide and managed 15 Purple Sandpipers with lots of Redshank and Turnstones roosting on the potoon in glorious spring weather.

On to Kings Gap, Hoylake where there were only a handful of Redshank and a single Pied Wagtail on the shore as the tide came in.

Down Stanley Road to Red Rocks for 100+ Brent Geese and lots of Scoters on the water off Hilbre and beyond. Great Crested Grebes, Curlews and the usual Oystercatchers and Cormorants etc. were also seen here but I failed to see any Divers.

I then called at West Kirby where I finally caught up with a few Knot, 100+ Dunlin, 100+ Redshank, and lots more Turnstones as the tide was retreating.

A pleasant trip to the coast and some good birds in the end, but not the thousands of waders as I and many others were expecting.




-- Edited by Brian Baird on Monday 3rd of March 2014 08:46:21 PM

John Tymon Wrote


I strangely have noticed the same at red rocks, kings gap etc this winter, where have all the knot gone, there used to be 100,000+ waders in that area in winter, but I have seen relatively small number in that area this winter, whether its disturbance by the public on the beaches at high tide, which seems to get worse each visit, with more dogs loose on the beaches and roosting areas or some other reason ,but the numbers seem to be well down in that area on the high tides this winter. Someone told me they were roosting on the welsh side of the estuary ,does anyone know if that is true or are the numbers just much lower this year. The large flocks just don't seem to be there when I visit, saying that I only get there once or twice a month in winter, so others may know different, I hope so anyway :)


-- Edited by JOHN TYMON on Monday 3rd of March 2014 09:19:14 PM

RSPB High Tide Birdwatch at Parkgate 02/03 - 10/30am - 3pm

4 Hen Harrier - 3 Ringtail, 1 adult male
2+ Short-Eared Owl
1 Peregrine
1 Avocet flying past
1 Water Rail
Lots of Redshank and Curlew
Smaller number of Lapwing, Oystercatcher, Dunlin and Snipe.
Reed Bunting, Meadow Pipits and Skylark all feeding in large numbers as the tide receded.
20+ Little Egrets

Just a reminder that Cheshire Wildlife Trust is inviting people to join Jeff Clarke on a walk to see waders on the Dee - Wed 5th March 11am

Banks Road is where the marsh meets the mud and as consequence it has a great variety of waders to enjoy.
Lapwings and Golden Plovers roost on the edge of the marsh, Common Redshanks fill the gutters and muddy
banks, and Dunlins and Knots stitch the muddy areas along deep probing specialists like the Black Tailed Godwit.
In addition the area is good for wildfowl and we may see Common Snipe flushed from cover.


THIS EVENT IS TOTALLY FEE please just contact; Tracy Gibson on Email: tgibson@cheshirewt.org.uk Tel: 01948 820728


Friday 14th March
Wirral Wildlife a local group of Cheshire Wildlife Trust are also holding an interesting talk

2013 - A Shorebird Summer
Room B, Heswall Hall, Heswall, 7.30 p.m.
A talk by Matt Thomas, local Ranger and photographer, about his exploits in Norway and Iceland.
For some years Matt has been contributing sightings of colour ringed waders hes seen on the Dee Estuary to research projects based in Norway and Iceland. In the summer of 2013 he was invited to join expeditions to these countries to see where his Dee birds where coming from. In the lands of the midnight sun he found much more to photograph than those colour ringed birds!
Admission £3. All welcome.




-- Edited by Austin Morley on Tuesday 25th of February 2014 04:14:11 PM

High tide at New brighton in spring like sunshine. Most welcome it was too. Red breasted merganser (male). Kittiwake. Both on marine lake. On the pontoon at high tide were Redshank. Purple sandpiper. Turnstone and Dunlin with 2 Cormorant sunbathing. It was as full of birds as ive seen it. Sorry I didnt count the numbers but no scope.

Well done Pete your persistence paid off in the end.

Damn shame for Water Rails. I also saw pictures took that very same weekend where a Grey Heron also eat a Water Rail at Parkgate. I know its nature but its tough to see

High tide at Parkgate : Water came upto the wall in bright sunshine giving good views of : Short-eared owl, Hen harrier, Peregrine, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, saw 2 Water Rail flushed, shrew and fox trying to keep their feet dry. Great to see and very busy all along the prom.

Parkgate

Six species of raptor today:

Merlin 2
Peregrine 2
Kestrel 2
Sparrowhawk 1
Common Buzzard 1
Hen Harrier 3

We also had 8 Short-eared Owls up at once, a Great White Egret (also had one - or the same - at Denhall Lane first thing) and three Brent Geese.

Once the tide was in we spent an hour going through the passerines on the marsh. Hundreds of Skylarks, many Rock Pipits and a single, brief Water Pipit. We spent some time going through the Linnet flock in the morning, neither sight nor sound of any Twite.

No luck with the Buff Breasted Pipit first thing but walked west from the Old baths and was very pleased to see:

3 ring tailed Hen Harriers
4+ Short Eared Owls
Merlin
3+ Kestrels
Linnet flocks - which I heard being misidentified as Twite three times during the morning - I tried to help twice :)
2 Water Rail - including one "hiding" in some rush debris which was quite difficult to pick out even from ten feet or so away
Skylark flocks feeding on the tide edge
Several voles - including one taken by a kestrel as it swam against the wall
Fox against the wall of the pub after high tide
Possible Rock Pipit in with Skylarks
and all the other typical species for along there

Everyone was very friendly and had several good conversations and learnt some new stuff [Like Capercaillie can cross breed with Black Grouse, and that the Short Eared Owls have been much further west along the estuary this year]. It was a good tide with all the marsh being covered to the wall - I guess right down the front at Parkgate as well but I didn't head out in that direction.