High Tide at Riverbank Road and Burton Mere Wetlands : 11th March 2016

High Tide at Riverbank Road and Burton Mere Wetlands : 11th March 2016

Short-eared Owl, Riverside Road, Heswall

A high tide of 10.2m at 12.38hrs (GMT) at Riverbank Road / Parkgate was the highest for a while and, following our recent practice, we decided to go to Riverbank Road rather than Parkgate. Because the tide wasn’t due to be in until after mid-day, we decided to pop into Burton Mere Wetlands for an hour. We only had time to look from the reception hide and at the feeders down by the barn so we didn’t see a great deal. Still, it was nice to see healthy numbers of Avocets now collected there and we did get a Great White Egret in the field at the back of the scrape. Riverbank Road was reallt our main attraction for the day, however, and we were not to be disappointed.

When we arrived there, there were already about half a dozen people but we still managed to get a good parking position overlooking the marsh. We did not need to shelter, however, as it was a lovelt, sunny and windless day – not exactly what you want to help the tide come in but in it did come, eventually coming all the way in to the car park.

Highlights for the day were undoubtedly the birds of prey which started off with a nice Ring-tailed Hen Harrier – a first for the year. Next up was a clssic “is it a Peregrine or a Merlin”. After seeing it take off we all concluded that it was a Merlin. In fact we kept seeing the “merlin” aver the next couple of hours. Whether it was one bird or two we couldn’t say. Next up was a Kestrel that sat on one of the posts nearest to us but the climax was undoubtedly the appearance of three Short-eared Owls, two of which stayed for a long time hunting in front of us and giving a most splendid display. Occasionally a pair of them would settle down on the marsh sitting together befor causing mayhem amont the Pipits and Redshanks. This just goes to show that this is a far better site – most times – than Parkgate. It is quieter and there is a nice lot of people who converse freely with each other and pass on hints. As an example, I spoke to one chap who toild me that Neston Old Quay was pretty reliable for Short-eared Owls at any tide and also, of course, there was the chance of the Water Pipit at the nearby Sewage Works. He told me that round there there was a little stream that led inland and that he had seen Water Pipits there before. The fields between there and the Sewage Works apparently require wellington boots !

All these birds of prey would not be around if there were not a meal available from the range of other birds present. These included very large numbers of Common Shelduck and Curlew and Oystercatchers. There were good numbers of Teal and lots of Little Egrets. A few Buzzards were circling overhead and we had a small flock of Long-tailed Tits.

Another first for the year (apart from the Hen Harrier) was a lovely pair of Stonechats. All in all we had a great couple of hours at Rivebank Road. When we left we popped down to Parkgate for lunch but went to the RSPB car park first to see what was what. Most people said that the tide had hardly come in but despite that they seem to have seen most of the birds we had see – probably the ones that were in front of us at Rivebank Road and this seems to be why Riverbank Road is so good – it is the source of many of the birs, especially birds of prey.

Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands Environs

Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands Reception Hide

Bird Sightings : Riverbank Road