High Tide at Hoylake and Burton Mere Wetland: 25th November 2014

High Tide at Hoylake : 25th November 2014

The birding group visit for this week was to Hoylake for a high tide. The tide was due at 12.37 at 9.5 metres. We arrived there around 10.15am and were pleased to find that it was a lovely sunny morning with no wind which made a very pleasant change from usual but, of course, a bit of wind and (perhaps) rain is always better for a high tide. Be that as it may, Hoylake is never disappointing and today was no exception.

The numbers were a little less than we were expecting and, of course, it is always hard to judge absolute numbers but there were acceptable numbers of Dunlin and we got very good, clear views of a small flock of Sanderling – possibly even the best views of Sanderling I have had at Hoylake. The biggest spectacle was perhaps the Oystercatchers that stretched in a long line along the edge of the water. through a scope they cut a comical sight as the tide came in. Unwilling to take to flight they were all scurrying away from the sea and in our direction. There was a small group of Knot but mainly it was a Dunlin show as small groups flew in, gradually emrging into a pair of flocks.

There were around twenty Grey Plovers and the highlight here was a male in almost full breeding plumage – in late November ! As usual, the collection of birds attracted a Sparrowhawk and we watched as it flew over the flocks eventually disappearing into someones garden ! There were some Bar-tailed Godwit and the Curlew numbers increased as the tide came in. There were very few Redshank but large numbers of Cormorant. We also spotted a few small flocks of Common Scoter flying along the water line when the tide was still a fair way out.

We remained there moving up and down the promenade to catch up with the movements of the birds. Eventually it all seemed to be over and a lot of the birds had moved off the shore. We decided it was time for lunch so we headed off to the Boathouse at Parkgate but after that we thought it would be a shame not to just pop in to Burton Mere Wetland on the way back just to see if anything was about.

By the time we got there the light was fading a bit so we headed out of the reception hide and walked over to the blind next to the Sand Martin bank. From here we could see the Cattle Egret, still happy loafing at BMW and this time feeding among the cattle over tin the fields. On the water there was the usual range of water birds but a big highlight was the appearance of a Hen Harrier – “only” a “ringtail” but we were nevertheless pretty happy with that. We did pop into the reception hide but with low light and the horrible glass in there we didn’t stay for long. It was time for us to go before we ran into the rush hour in Manchester and we were quite happy with our day. I looked it up later and we hadn’t seen a Hen Harrier since January !

Bird Sightings : Hoylake

Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands