On the 5th December the birding group headed up to the Wirral for a high tide of 9.9 metres at 11:55am. We started out with a quick stop at Burton Mere Wetlands where we just looked around the main scrape and walked down to the barn. On the walk we got Great Spotted Woodpecker but there were not the large numbers of winter thrushes we had seen on our last visit.
On the scrape we got Dunlin and Redshank as well as the usual Black-tailed Godwits and Shelduck, Shoveler and Teal and in the fields at the back there were various Geese and a single Black Swan.
We moved on to Parkgate to give ourselves plenty of time before the tide but it was a failry mild day and the sea did not seem to come significantly closer at all – even at high tide. Nevertheless, although the tide was disappointing, there were still some good birds around including a ringtail Hen Harrier and several Marsh Harriers. In that same department we also got Kestrel and Peregrine.
In the trees around the car park were a small flock of Linnet and there were also Meadow Pipits on the marsh. We got a single Great White Egret and lots of Little Egrets as well.
Moving on to the Harp Inn for a pint and a toastie we also added the usual Merlin to our list of raptors for the day. The raptors were the highlight of the whole day and, whilst it was a little disappointing tide-wise, we still got some good birds.