The birding group day out on the 25th October took in a range of sites on the Wirral, starting off with Parkgate where there was a 9.5 metre high tide at 11:48am – not particularly high but it was a beautifully sunny, clear day with fantastic visibility all the way over to Wales.
Amazingly, Parkgate was generally quiet and the Old Baths car park was virtually empty which was a great surprise. There was no real spectacular but it was nice for the Meadow Pipita, Skylarks, Linnets and Stonechats that seemed very lively. A couple of Marsh Harriers and a couple of Great White Egrets were nice and the Pink-footed Geese continue to arrive.
We left for Riverbank Road just before hight tide and that was also empty apart from the usual workmen having their lunch, listening to radios. The sea was much nearer at Riverbank Road and we could just make out Goosanders and Brent Geese out on the waters edge. A Buzzard was quite an usual sighting given the number of Marsh Harriers around. Lots of Curlew and Little Egrets were coming closer with the tide.
Lunch beckoned so we went down to the Harp Inn for a beer and a cheese toastie. We immediately saw a group of five Marsh Harriers all interacting with each other and giving a really good show. A bird of prey, which I couldn’t see, got a huge mixed flock of birds up and as they flew around they were showing all dark and then all light as they span. I couldn’t figure out what they were at the distance but I followed a small group of them until they landed on the water and found them to be Shovelers ! I don’t think I’ve seen Shovelers flocking together – almost murmerating – in quite that manner before.
Our final stop of the day was at Burton Mere Wetlands where we got to see a very rare event. The water on Burton mere (the mere that used to be part of Burton Manor that is behind the Woodland Pool (what I always call the fish pond – the path runs between the two) was unusually low and this meant that the fish were more than usually easy to catch. This had led to a huge group of birds, including seventeen Great White Egrets, ten Little Egrets and a pair of Grey Herons all hanging around the edge of the pool, picking the fish off at will. A big flock of Black-headed Gulls were also hoping for an easy lunch. Quite a sight; the Great Egrets were all over the place, in the trees and at ground level all along the pool! That eclipsed everything else that we saw that visit which was only an hour long before we had to get back to beat the traffic.
Bird Sightings : Parkgate 25th October 2022
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Black-headed Gull | 30 |
| Blue Tit | 1 |
| Carrion Crow | 6 |
| Chaffinch | 1 |
| Cormorant | 6 |
| Goldfinch | 4 |
| Great White Egret | 2 |
| Lapwing | 10 |
| Linnet | 4 |
| Little Egret | 10 |
| Magpie | 2 |
| Marsh Harrier | 2 |
| Meadow Pipit | 10 |
| Pied Wagtail | 3 |
| Pink-footed Goose | 150 |
| Redshank | 6 |
| Rook | 20 |
| Skylark | 6 |
| Stonechat | 2 |
Bird Sightings : Riverbank Road 25th October 2022
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Brent Goose | 8 |
| Buzzard | 1 |
| Curlew | 20 |
| Goosander | 3 |
| Grey Heron | 1 |
| Kestrel | 1 |
| Little Egret | 10 |
| Mallard | 30 |
| Marsh Harrier | 1 |
| Shelduck | 30 |
Bird Sightings : Neston Old Quay 25th October 2022
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Black-tailed Godwit | 4 |
| Canada Goose | 10 |
| Curlew | 20 |
| Marsh Harrier | 4 |
| Pink-footed Goose | 40 |
| Shoveler | 60 |
| Starling | 80 |
Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands 25th th October 2022
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| Avocet | 1 |
| Black-headed Gull | 30 |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 20 |
| Cetti’s Warbler | 1 |
| Coot | 10 |
| Great White Egret | 17 |
| Grey Heron | 2 |
| Little Egret | 10 |
| Mallard | 30 |
| Moorhen | 2 |
| Pheasant | 1 |
| Teal | 40 |