November 2015 archive

High Tide at Hoylake, West Kirby and New Brighton : 27th November 1015

Hoylake

The last high tide we are likely to get to before Christmas was on the 27th November and it was 9.8m at 11.45. S with the last time we went to Hoylake, the tide came in really quick. We were in reasonable time but it has to be said there weren’t that many birds. There had obviously been a lot of wind and the tide had already come up to the prom the previous day; The gutters were filled with sand and the sandy beach itself had been pushed up to a level where it was a much smaller drop from the prom to the sand than usual.

Birdwise, there were good numbers of Shelduck out on the water and the usual high numbers of Oystercatchers and Cormorants. There were smaller numbers of Curlew and plenty of Gulls. A small group of Dunlin shot past. However even as early as 10.30am the tide was well in and certainly too far in to expect any new influxes of birds, so we decided to head off to West Kirby where there had been reports of a Red-throated Diver on the marine lake

Bird Sightings : Hoylake

West Kirby

At West Kirby we parked up further down the prom than usual. We are used to being at West Kirby at low tide when the marine lake is quite distinct and separated from the sea. This was our first time there at a high tide and things were very different. The entire lake was submerged and had effectively become part of the sea itself. The handrails of the footpath around the marine lake disappeared into the sea and it was hard to see where the end of the lake was. The water was very choppy and the wind was blowing the sea water onto the prom as far as the road.

We peered out into the water, which was heaving and blustery, but apart from a few Gulls there was nothing to be seen. We spoke to a couple of people who were also looking for the Red-throated Diver and one of them had seen it earlier in the day but a long way out. We walked quite a long way up the prom and back again but we decided it was just too rough for us to see anything. We decided to get going to New Brighton but, just as I was ducking my head to get into the car, I looked up and there it was – probably only 40 feet away from the prom and as clear as daylight. It quickly disappeared on a wave and then must have gone under. I rushed back to the edge of the prom and managed to see it a few times. It wasn’t the most accommodating bird but it was close enough when it did come up that the identification couldn’t be in doubt.

I mentioned to a couple of new arrivals that we had just seen the bird and that it had been moving up to the left from Buoys G to H to I but still near the promenade. They walked back in the direction we had come from and a little while later they were waving at us to indicate that they had got it. I walked up to where they were and managed another quick glimpses and also saw a rather small looking (in comparison) Great-crested Grebe. I remember that last year we actually saw a Red-throated Diver at Riverside Road from the car park. It was similarly close then.

Pleased with our success but also keen to see what would be on the raft at New Brighton at high tide we decided to drive over there. It was till only 11.30am !

Bird Sightings : West Kirby Marine Lake

New Brighton

We managed to park close to the Café Crème, our café of choice in New Brighton due to the great bacon sandwiches they do there, and headed straight for the raft. It was pleasantly full of birds and there were around eight Purple Sandpipers, some five hundred or so Redshank, around forty Dunlin and twice as many Turnstones. Shuffling along one edge was a single Greenshank.

Bird Sightings : New Brighton Marine Lake