High Tide Birding on the Wirral 21st and 23rd February 2023

The birding group had a morning out to Brockholes planned but because there was a high tide on the Wirral, we decided to there ourselves. We hadn’t had a high tide there this year because we had been on holiday in Lanzarote and, since the February high tides are usually good, we decided that that was what we would do.

The tides were:

20th February, 11.08hrs (GMT), 9.8m.

21st February, 11.53hrs (GMT), 10.1m.

22nd February, 12.36hrs (GMT), 10.2m.

23rd February, 13.17hrs (GMT), 10.1m.

24th February, 13.57hrs (GMT), 9.7m.

We were torn between Parkgate and Burton Mere Wetland or Hoylake and New Brighton Marine Lake. In the end we decided to do both – the former on the 21^st and the latter on the 23^rd.

Parkgate, Little Neston and Burton Mere Wetland on 21st February 2023

We managed to park at the dog-walkers section of the car park and we walked onto the grass. The old baths car park was full, so we didn’t fancy that. Instead, we stood by the wall by one of the picnic tables and got quite good views there.

There were very large numbers of Pink-footed Geese on the marsh and a couple of Great Egrets and half a dozen Little Egrets. We saw about six Marsh Harriers but no Hen Harriers or Owls. Apparently there was a Short-eared Owl about that flew in from Heswall Golf Course but nobody we met at Parkgate had seen it – perhaps it showed later in the day when we had left. It was a very mild day so no wind and therefore no very great high tide. It was a very pleasant sunny day, though, and the Meadow Pipits and Skylarks were flying around a lot. There were good numbers of Oystercatchers and a few Curlew and some Black-tailed Godwits. On one of the pools nearest us there was a Greenshank showing very well.

When we felt we had seen all we were going to see, we headed off to the Harp Inn for some lunch and a look at what was on the marsh there.

There were good numbers of Wigeon on the marsh along with Shoveler and Teal. Curlew, Little Egret and Grey Heron were all out looking for lunch and a good flock of Dunlin were too-ing and fro-ing over the marsh. We also saw Stonechat and House Sparrow and, on our way to Burton Mere Wetlands, a couple of Buzzards were interacting above us.

At Burton we heard our first Cetti of the year but, because we have done so little birding in the UK this year so far, a lot of our birds – even quite common ones – were year ticks. There were the usual ducks in good numbers, including a couple of Pintails, and even more Pink-footed Geese in a field towards Shotwick. I can’t imagine how many are on the Wirral this winter. From the bunker hide we got a Spotted Redshank as well as small numbers of Common Redshanks, lots of Black-tailed Godwits and even a couple of Curlew. We didn’t see the Long-billed Dowitcher again!

Burton Mere Wetlands, Hoylake, New Brighton Marine Lake and Wallasey Beach on 22^nd February 2023

On the 23^rd February we started off at Burton – we didn’t see the Long-billed Dowitcher again! – and it was pretty much the same as the 21^st when we visited. A nice addition, though, was a small group of 19 Whooper Swans. How I miss the good old days, before the solar park was built on Shotwick fields, when you could see all four species of Swan in the one field!

We got the Spotted Redshank a second time and a pair of year-first Avocet. Wren, Song Thrush, Greenfinch and Goldfinch were all about. We saw a pair of Buzzards, again, and just 2 Marsh Harriers.

We headed off to Hoylake and got there around 11:30am. It wasn’t long before the tide was coming round the lifeboat station and, although the numbers weren’t as big as they have sometimes bee, they were still showing well with Grey Plover, Sanderling, Redshank, Knot, Dunlin and Oystercatchers all is fair numbers and looking very fine in the sun.

Lots of Linnets were dotting around the grassy bits of the beach. The main sandy bit of the promenade is now almost totally covered in greenery and there is no sand to be seen – it will soon be thick marsh.

We didn’t see any birds of prey except a single Kestrel.

We drove off to Hoylake and only just managed to get a parking space as someone left. The place was heaving.; it was school holidays and dry and very sunny so it was the perfect conditions for the entire population of the area to be out and about. Many seemed to be in the Café Crème getting ice creams and, after our traditional bacon butty, we sampled an ice cream ourself. Now they seem to have the best bacon butty in the north but also the best ice cream. Fortunately, they also had some birds on the pontoon. They were mainly Redshanks but there were four (some people saw six) Purple Sandpipers and lots of Turnstones as well.

We decided to drop in at Wallasey Beach and parked just by the Derby Pool pub. We walked towards the right looking – on the off-chance – for a Snow Bunting but didn’t see any. When we walked to the lighthouse type of building at the end we realized that if we had just followed the promenade road right to the very end, we could have just walked on the path to where we ended up. Something to remember for the future. As we came back, a woman asked us if we had seen the reported Snow Bunting and we replied that we hadn’t but then, as we all walked back together and started scanning the beach, there was a Snow Bunting just a few feet from us. A fine end to the day.

Bird Sightings : High Tides on Wirral over 21 and 23 February 2023