Our last chance of the year to do some birding came on the 28th December when there was a moderately high tide on the Wirral – 9.24m at 12:19pm. We hoped that this would give us a little boost to our December monthly species list.
Hoylake
We started out at Hoylake about forty-five minutes before high tide and by the Lifeboat Station we got reasonable, if not spectacular, numbers of waders including some Grey Plovers.
West Kirby Marine Lake
We went from there to West Kirby Marine Lake where I was hoping to find a pair of Shag that had been on the lake recently. It turned out to be one better than that, at three, and they were actually out of the water, showing well. Surprisingly this was a year tick for us. Down at the concrete standing there were large numbers of particularly winter-looking Dunlin with a few Turnstones and Redshanks thrown in for good measure.
Parkgate
We continued on to Parkgate in the hope of getting an Owl but we had to settle for Marsh Harrier.
Denhall Quay
Denhall Quay was similarly disappointing for Owls but we did get a cheese toastie and a pint – and also Great Egret and a smattering of other birds.
Burton Mere Wetlands
Burton Mere Wetlands was out last stop and we only had time for a quick look on the scrape and out by the feeders. There was nothing special but we got a fair number of species and were happy with a fine day out just before the New Year when it all starts over again.
Bird Sightings Hoylake 28th December 2019
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Common Shelduck | 50 |
| Common Wood Pigeon | 6 |
| Eurasian Oystercatcher | 300 |
| Grey Plover | 6 |
| Eurasian Curlew | 1 |
| Red Knot | 100 |
| Sanderling | 40 |
| Dunlin | 200 |
| Common Redshank | 16 |
| Black-headed Gull | 50 |
| Mew Gull | 40 |
| Herring Gull | 1 |
| Lesser Black-backed Gull | 2 |
| Great Black-backed Gull | 2 |
| Carrion Crow | 10 |
| Common Starling | 20 |
Bird Sightings West Kirby Marine Lake 28th December 2019
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Ruddy Turnstone | 4 |
| Dunlin | 200 |
| Common Redshank | 40 |
| Great Cormorant | 40 |
| European Shag | 3 |
Bird Sightings Parkgate 28th December 2019
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Pink-footed Goose | 200 |
| Grey Heron | 2 |
| Little Egret | 1 |
| Eurasian Marsh Harrier | 1 |
| Common Starling | 20 |
Bird Sightings Denhall Quay 28th December 2019
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Pink-footed Goose | 100 |
| Canada Goose | 20 |
| Eurasian Wigeon | 30 |
| Northern Lapwing | 100 |
| Great Egret | 1 |
| Little Egret | 6 |
| Eurasian Kestrel | 1 |
| Common Starling | 30 |
| Eurasian Blackbird | 1 |
| European Robin | 1 |
| House Sparrow | 4 |
Bird Sightings Burton Mere Wetlands 28th December 2019
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Greylag Goose | 40 |
| Pink-footed Goose | 200 |
| Canada Goose | 40 |
| Common Shelduck | 20 |
| Northern Shoveler | 1 |
| Mallard | 10 |
| Common Teal | 30 |
| Common Pheasant | 3 |
| Common Wood Pigeon | 4 |
| Common Moorhen | 2 |
| Northern Lapwing | 200 |
| Eurasian Curlew | 20 |
| Common Buzzard | 3 |
| Eurasian Magpie | 4 |
| Rook | 2 |
| Carrion Crow | 10 |
| Eurasian Blue Tit | 4 |
| Great Tit | 3 |
| Eurasian Blackbird | 1 |
| European Robin | 1 |
| European Greenfinch | 2 |
| European Goldfinch | 20 |