High Tide on The Wirral : 1st November 2016

High Tide on The Wirral : 1st November 2016

A high-ish tide on the Wirral took the birding group up there for the first session of November. At 9.2m at 11.48am it wasn’t ever going to be a great high tide but we thought it would be good enough for Hoylake and then we thought that we go to the Harp Inn at Neston Old Quay and then finish up at Burton Mere Wetlands. The end result of this plan, if you were one of the ones who stuck with it all the way, was a great array of birds and especially birds of prey.

We started off at Hoylake where the tide hardly reached the corner where the lifeboat station is. Be that as it may, and if you had a scope, there were still views of lots of the usual suspects, Oystercatchers, Curlews, Dunlin and some Grey Plover and Sanderling. We stayed about an hour and a half before then heading off for the Harp Inn.

Quite a good group of us went there and we were rewarded with a great view of a Short-eared Owl sparring with a few Crows. This was followed by the appearance of a Ringtail Hen Harrier who came so close along the marsh that I doubt any of us had had closer or longer views of a Hen Harrier. There was also a Kestrel and a few Stonechats and Meadow Pipits. Some of us sat at the benches outside the Harp Inn and had a drink and a cheese toastie before heading off to Burton Mere Wetlands.

None of us really expected to stay very long at Burton and we only really spent any time at the blind on the way to the barn. The afternooon light was very harsh but we could get some better views from here.

Among the geese were Canada, Greylag and Pink-footed. All the usual ducks were present – or at least most of them. There weren’t too many waders but there were Black-tailed Godwits and Common Snipe. But, again, it was the birds of prey that put on the show for us. We eventaully saw four Marsh Harriers in the air at the one time and three Buzzards all together. This was rounded off with us finding a nicely perched Sparrowhawk on one of the islands.

This was truly a great birds of preyday with Kestrel, Short-eared Owl, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard,  Hen Harrier and Marsh Harrier all seen well and for prolonged periods of time. The day started off rather dull and threatening to rain but gradually it developed into a nearly balmy day – certainly warm enough to sit outside the Harp to watch Hen Harriers and Short-eared Owls – and, in the end we saw fifty species.

Bird Sightings : Hoylake

Bird Sightings : Neston Old Quay / Harp Inn

Bird Sightings : Burton Mere Wetlands Environs