August 23, 2013 archive

Aug 23 2013

Visit to Hoylake for High Tide : 23rd August 2013

Visit to Hoylake for High Tide : 23rd August 2013

We left Burton Mere Wetlands with enough time to get up to Hoylake. As we arrived there were already a few birders on the prom and the birds were already quite a way in – indeed, much closer than they had been earlier in the year when we were last here. We parked up and got the scopes out. The first thing you noticed was that the birds were quite different from those that had been there in Spring. This time there were mind-boggling numbers of Ringed Plovers ; the official count was 1,100. There were also great numbers of Dunlin; again the official count was around 2,500/ But these were not the only birds present in significant numbers. Continue reading

Aug 23 2013

Visit to Burton Mere Wetlands : 23rd August 2013

Visit to Burton Mere Wetlands : 23rd August 2013

I discovered that there was to be a fairly high tide on the Wirral and fancied a trip to the prom at Hoylake to see what birds were to be found there as the tide came in. The tide was due to come in around noon so we stopped off at Burton Mere Wetlands for and hour or two to see what was there. Among the Canada Geese there was a single Barnacle Goose – a not uncommon occurrence there –  and there wer numbers of Lapwing and Black-tailed Godwit. there were also a few Teal starting to collect and also Gadwall and Mallard. As we sat in the reception hide there we saw a Kingfisher fly in and sit on a stick right in front of the hide. One of the RSPB chaps there said that it had been doing this for a few days but we really didn’t expect to see it. It stayed for a minute or so and then flew off but only as far as the Sand Martin bank where it sat for quite a long time giving good – if slightly distant  – views.

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