The first high tide of the year that we were able to get to was a 10 metre tide at 12.21pm. We drove up to Burton Mere Wetlands to stop off for a coffee and comfort break and had a quick look around first. As soon as we entered the reception hide we could see a Marsh Harrier flying low over the reeds just by the Marsh Covert Hide. We only had about half an hour so we took a walk up to the barn hoping that the recorded sighting of Little Owl was going to work for us – it didn’t. However there were some nice birds.
These included a single Fieldfare in the field looking dazzling on what was an uncommonly sunny day. A splendid year tick came in my first Chiffchaff of the year – seen at head height about 20 feet away ! Presumably it had over-wintered. We also got a Great Spotted Woodpecker flying by. In fact, as soon as we had got out of the car, we heard a GSW drumming repeatedly – again a first for the year. A Kestrel gave us another bird of prey for the day but apart fromthe usual suspects these were the best birds.
We oved on to Parkgate and, despite it being a Friday and us being an hour and a half before the high tide, the place was rammed with no parking available on the promendade, on the ramp , outside the pub or in the car park itself. Rather than getting stuck in a trafic jam we diverted straight away to Riverbank Road. It was quite a sedate affair and, although the water came in a fair way, it wasn’t a “spectacular” We did, however, get a Ringtail Hen Harrier and a Peregrine, a Merlin and Buzzrd. No Owls, though !
We did also get a small group of Common Scoter out on the water and the marsh was full of Skylarks and MEadow Pipits.
Shortly after high tide, we drove off up to New Brighton to take a look at the Marine Lake and that was pretty full of a mixed flock of Purple Sandpipers, Dunlin, Redshanks and Turnstones as expected.
All in all not a spectacular and the incredible numbers at Parkgate was a bit depressing – where have all these people come from !! But it was a beautifully sunny day and after a long January of rain and darkness it was great to get out and get some good birds.
Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands
| Black-headed Gull | 40 |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 20 |
| Blackbird | 2 |
| Blue Tit | 8 |
| Canada Goose | 40 |
| Carrion Crow | 8 |
| Chaffinch | 6 |
| Chiffchaff | 1 |
| Coot | 8 |
| Cormorant | 3 |
| Fieldfare | 1 |
| Goldfinch | 8 |
| Great Spotted Woodpecker | 1 |
| Great Tit | 6 |
| Greenfinch | 6 |
| Greylag Goose | 10 |
| Kestrel | 1 |
| Mallard | 30 |
| Marsh Harrier | 1 |
| Moorhen | 8 |
| Nuthatch | 1 |
| Redshank | 2 |
| Robin | 1 |
| Shoveler | 8 |
| Teal | 100 |
| Wigeon | 6 |
Bird Sightings : Riverbank Road
| Buzzard | 2 |
| Canada Goose | 30 |
| Common Scoter | 10 |
| Curlew | 40 |
| Grey Heron | 1 |
| Hen Harrier | 1 |
| Little Egret | 3 |
| Meadow Pipit | 8 |
| Merlin | 1 |
| Oystercatcher | 50 |
| Peregrine | 1 |
| Shelduck | 30 |
| Skylark | 6 |
| Teal | 30 |
| Wigeon | 10 |
Bird Sightings : New Brighton Marine Lake
| Black-headed Gull | 8 |
| Dunlin | 100 |
| Herring Gull | 1 |
| Pied Wagtail | 1 |
| Purple Sandpiper | 10 |
| Redshank | 200 |
| Starling | 10 |
| Turnstone | 60 |