We ventured further afield that the Wirral this week and pre-booked (as you have to now) a visit to WWT Martin Mere. It was a very different experience to our usual visits there but it was a nice day and we got a few decent birds.
Continue readingSep 18 2020
Hoylake & The Wirral 18th September 2020
We went to the Wirral again on the 18thfor a high tide of 9.9 metres at 12:30pm. It was a beautiful day and totally still which is rare for Hoylake which is where we started. It must have been the lack of an onshore wind that caused the tide to stay out so much. It did turn past the lifeboat station but there was still plenty of sand left – sand which is rapidly becoming a field as the greenery continues to grow on it. This is a recognised problem and they are dealing with it but it is taking a while for them to sort it out.
Continue readingSep 16 2020
Brockholes 16th September 2020
We ventured out on the 16th to Brockholes to pick up my scope which had been repaired by Swarovski but we didn’t do too much bird watching. It was totally different to our last visit. The children are back in school and a lot of people are back at work so it was a lot quieter that before – thank god.
Continue readingSep 08 2020
Burton Mere Wetlands and Parkgate 8th September 2020
Our first visit to RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands since 10th March was such a pleasure. Just to be outside but not in your own garden reminded you of how much you normally take for granted. It was a beautiful, sunny, day so it felt like quite a treat. We even managed to see some Curlew Sandpiper and – believe it or not – our first Greenfinch of the year – in September !
Continue readingAug 31 2020
April – August 2020 – Covid 19 continues to thwart any birding
For all of April, May, June and July we were not allowed to travel except for limited reasons, none of which was birding – although, from reading the birding magazines, plenty of people found a way around this in pursuit of their more important hobby. For us, though, we stayed at home so the only birds we had were out usual birds. For a summary of these dire days and then our brief foray into the outside world in August read on
Continue readingMar 19 2020
March 2020 : Summary
My last day outdoors was the 13th of March. Thereafer I was confined to house and garden as a result of the Coronavirus lockdown. Only back garden birding allowed until further notice. Now we really appreciate the birding we have previously taken for granted.
Continue readingMar 10 2020
Birding Group High Tide Burton Mere Wetlands and Parkgate 10th March 2020
Another Tuesday of mixed weather (and perhaps the coronavirus) led most of the birding group to stay at home and only two of us went up to the Wirral for a high tide of 10 metres at 11:30am. As it happened, the weather wasn’t that bad overall and it was worth the trip for one or two nice birds and a good inflow of water at Parkgate.
Continue readingMar 03 2020
Birding Group RSPB Conwy and Little Orme 3rd March 2020
A slight improvement to the recent, poor, weather saw the birding group reschedule the previously cancelled visit to RSPB Conwy. We also wanted to try for Hawfinches at Llanbedr-y-cennin and go on to Little Orme to look for Chough. As it happens, we didn’t see Hawfinches or Choughs but we did have a good day and got some nice year ticks.
Continue readingFeb 25 2020
High Tide on the Wirral 25th February 2020
February was the wettest on record with flooding in lots of areas of the country. Although Manchester got it relatively well, it did put a damper on the birding for most of the month. Additionally, Anne still had a cast on her broken wrist and I still had a bad leg. This meant that we only had two birding days out in all of February. Both were for high tides but this one, on the 25th, was nowhere near as dramatic as that of the 11th. It was compensated for by some nice bird of prey sightings though.
The high tide was 9.3 metres at 12:15pm but there was nowhere near the amount of wind as on the 11th. At Hoylake the sea was always a way out and there seemed to be very few birds on the shore. There were Grey Plover, Knot and Dunlin, but all in smaller numbers than usual. It was bitterly cold and I was glad when we headed off for Parkgate.
Continue readingFeb 11 2020
High Tide on the Wirral 11th February 2020
With poor weather expected, the high tide of 10 metres at 12:35pm, on the Wirral, posed problems for most of the birding group and only two of us dared the predicted high winds. Ironically, we often say that a high tide is disappointing because there was not enough wind blowing the water towards land to make it a “spectacular” but, when such conditions are predicted, we often decide that we will not go birding because of those very same conditions. On the other hand the weather was very dramatic so perhaps those that did not go were right all along. It depends on your view.
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