Jan 24 2015
After we left Riverbank Road we went on to New Brighton to find the Purple Sandpipers again as Anne had missed them. A note to myself, NEVER go there on a weekend; parking is impossible ! Would we have a bit more luck that we had had on the birding group visit a few days prior ? Well the answer was a limited yes.
Jan 24 2015
This was a ranger-led high-tide watch. The tide was 9.9 metres at 1.46pm and the meeting time was 11.30am. We got there in plenty of time after being at Shotwick Lane first. It was a sedentary affair with a row of people lined up on the edge of the car park that fronts the marsh. It is a good elevated position and in one direction you can see the marsh at Parkgate and on the other side you can see the boat yard by the Sheldrake Restaurant and further on to Thurstaston. We stood here and waited for what the tide would bring; it brought at least one huge surprise and a nice year tick.
Jan 24 2015
I had been reading on the Dee Estuary Birding web site that there were Black-necked Grebes wintering on Shotwick boating lake. I was quite keen to see these but I was actually more taken with the report for the 17th January when someone had seen four species of Swan in the nearby fields. I was particularly keen to the Bewick’s swans that winter on the estuary every year so we started our day with a quick recce visit before going on to our main site of the day which was at Riverbank Road in Heswall for a high tide watch.