Birding Group : Hoylake, New Brighton and Parkgate 3 Feb 2026
The first birding group outing we were able to attend after our holiday in Lanzarote and the subsequent business getting back into a domestic routine was to the Wirral for a high tide of 9.8m at 12:12pm. Although 9.8 metres doesn’t seem that much, from bitter experience we know that that can mean nothing when the wind, air pressure, and other factors are added. This was such an occasion and the tide came in much quicker than we anticipated bringing with it a mini murmuration session.
As soon as we got to Moels we saw very large numbers of Knot, and other birds, very close to the promenade. The rate that the tide was coming in, even though we were about two hours early, was so rapid that we decided to head down to the lifeboat station straight away. Down there the rest of the group were surveying a small group of Light-bellied Brent Geese, though a by passer mentioned that he had seen a Dark-bellied among them.
It was hardly any time before the tide was pushing all the birds in and Knot were the most impressive and numerous species. It has been a long time since the Knot murmurations od old have been seen but this one was a small reminder of how splendid these displays are.
As well as the usual large numbers of Oystercatchers, there were good numbers of Bar-tailed Godwits and a few Grey Plovers. There were lots of Curlew and around a hundred Sanderling were mixed in with the Redshanks and Dunlins. There were even a few Ringed Plovers. All these birds were pushed in towards the promenade giving us good views. Out on the sea we spotted a small flock of Common Scoter and there were the usual good numbers of Common Shelduck and Cormorant
The strength of tide was that good that long before the high tide was due to be at its maximum, most of the birds had moved further along in search of dry land so we headed off for New Brighton where we were lucky to find a single Purple Sandpiper. I spoke to some locals who were members of a Purple Sandpiper WhatsApp group (!) and they said that it had been a very poor winter for Purple Sandpipers. There were good numbers of Turnstones and Redshanks but, again, no the numbers there used to be.
After a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea at Café Crème, we headed off to Parkgate. It had been a pretty cold and windy morning so far and Parkgate was no different so we didn’t stay too long. We did, however, manage to get a Kestrel perched in a tree at the Old Baths and a couple of Marsh Harriers hunting over the marsh. There were plenty of Pink-footed Geese on the marsh but many of them were hunkered down against the wind. There were also Canada Geese and Lapwing in fair numbers. By about 2:30pm, however, we were getting cold and the rain threatened to start up so we headed back home after a very satisfying day of birding that netted us twenty-eight species but some of them, Purple Sandpiper, Grey Plover, Sanderling, Brent Geese and Common Scoter quite satisfying and a good, belated, start for us to our UK birding year.
Bird Sightings : Hoylake, New Brighton and Parkgate 3 Feb 2026
| Species | No |
|---|---|
| 1 | Bar-tailed Godwit |
| 2 | Black-headed Gull |
| 3 | Brent Goose |
| 4 | Buzzard |
| 5 | Canada Goose |
| 6 | Common Scoter |
| 7 | Cormorant |
| 8 | Curlew |
| 9 | Dunlin |
| 10 | Great Black-backed Gull |
| 11 | Great White Egret |
| 12 | Grey Plover |
| 13 | Herring Gull |
| 14 | Kestrel |
| 15 | Knot |
| 16 | Lapwing |
| 17 | Marsh Harrier |
| 18 | Oystercatcher |
| 19 | Pink-footed Goose |
| 20 | Purple Sandpiper |
| 21 | Redshank |
| 22 | Ringed Plover |
| 23 | Sanderling |
| 24 | Shelduck |
| 25 | Starling |
| 26 | Teal |
| 27 | Turnstone |
| 28 | Wigeon |