It was the 11th of the month before we got out birding and that was a trip up to the Wirral where, although the high tide was very modest on paper at 9.7m or thereabouts, the tide seemed to come a long way in and we got some good views of the usual suspects but not the rare Pied Wheatear at Meols that disappeared the night before we got there! We were not as unlucky, though, as the chap we met who had got the train up from London only to miss it.
Our day started off there and we got a nice group of Knot and ten Bar-tailed Godwits as well as good numbers of Shelduck and Iystercatchers. With high tide being lunchtime we had a full afternoon left so we dropped down to Hoylake where we got nice groups of Sanderling and Dunlin as well as high numbers of Ringed Plovers. From there we went to West Kirby where we found another target bird for the day, a Greater Scaup, and also a Red-breasted Merganser and a nice group of Turnstones sheltering in the usual place.
We continued on to Riverbank Road where the tide was actually a long way in. Here we got a Great White Egret and two Peregrine Falcons sitting on posts near the waters edge.
We continued on to Burton Mere Wetlands where we didn’t have a lot of time but, the very second we arrived, we just managed a quick view or two of a Water Rail running from the right of the reception hide and then along the front of it. This was a year tick.
So we had thirty-eight species with some good, if regular, birds thrown in but the stars of the day were the Water Rail and Brent Geese both year ticks
Bird Sightings : Meols 11th November 2018
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Common Shelduck | 100 |
| Great Cormorant | 60 |
| Eurasian Oystercatcher | 150 |
| Common Redshank | 50 |
| Eurasian Curlew | 6 |
| Bar-tailed Godwit | 10 |
| Red Knot | 20 |
| Common Starling | 40 |
Bird Sightings : Hoylake 11th November 2018
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Great Cormorant | 20 |
| Eurasian Oystercatcher | 200 |
| Common Ringed Plover | 10 |
| Sanderling | 30 |
| Dunlin | 80 |
| Black-headed Gull | 30 |
| Herring Gull | 20 |
| Great Black-backed Gull | 10 |
| European Robin | 1 |
| Pied Wagtail | 2 |
Bird Sightings : West Kirby Marine Lake 11th November 2018
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Brent Goose | 60 |
| Greater Scaup | 1 |
| Red-breasted Merganser | 1 |
| Great Crested Grebe | 2 |
| Great Cormorant | 30 |
| Grey Heron | 2 |
| Ruddy Turnstone | 12 |
Bird Sightings : Riverbank Road 11th November 2018
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Great Egret | 1 |
| Little Egret | 30 |
| Eurasian Oystercatcher | 50 |
| Common Redshank | 40 |
| Common Wood Pigeon | 20 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 2 |
| Carrion Crow | 20 |
| Sky Lark | 2 |
| Common Starling | 30 |
Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands 11th November 2018
| Species | Count |
|---|---|
| Mute Swan | 40 |
| Eurasian Wigeon | 6 |
| Mallard | 20 |
| Northern Shoveler | 20 |
| Common Teal | 40 |
| Tufted Duck | 2 |
| Water Rail | 1 |
| Common Moorhen | 6 |
| Common Coot | 4 |
| Northern Lapwing | 150 |
| Black-tailed Godwit | 50 |
| Black-headed Gull | 20 |
| Eurasian Jay | 1 |
| Great Tit | 1 |
| Pied Wagtail | 20 |
| Meadow Pipit | 1 |