Parkgate High Tide : 4 Jan 2014

Parkgate High Tide : 4 Jan 2014

Our first outing of the year after the Christmas and New Year period was to Parkgate where there was due to be a high tide (10.1 metres) due at 1pm. We got there by 11.20am but all the parking spaces on the upper level of the old baths car park but we did get a spot on the lower level. Our preference for the top level was as a result of the bottom level flooding during the now legendary high tide of 5th December. At that high tide the winds had been so strong the tide quite high and the air pressure so low that the whole area had flooded. Would we experience the same this time ?

Well, the answer to that is no as the conditions were very different. There was almost no wind and so, even with the tide being higher, the inundation did not happen. We met a couple who had been there that day and she described the Water Rails running around the car park and all the other amazing sights associated with such tides. On the other they she said that it was almost unbearable with the wind so strong that the use of telescopes was impossible. At least this time it was a relatively mild day for the time of year and it was a10.1 metre tide.

When the tide did start to come in it was very slow but steady. Even by 2pm it seemed that the water was still seeping in and it cam up to the wall in the form of pools of water at the wall rather than waves. In fact the water was further in this time but because it was so calm, the experience was of a totally different order. When we had last been here on 7th December the wind was so strong that you could hardly hear anyone else talking so really it was every birder for themselves. In this case we were very much assisted by other birders around us and the spotting of a bird was quickly transferred down the line of birders and sometimes even came back up again.

Previously we had seen such a surge of water that the Water Voles had emerged confused and had been easily picked of by the gulls and even the Little Egrets. The whole spectacle was a wild affair with flocks of birds flying fast in all directions in a really chaotic scenario. This was a totally different experience but only went to show that a high tide at Parkgate can be many things – rarely is it disappointing !

The first bird we took in as we scanned the marsh was a Great White Egret, this was among about ten Little Egrets that seemed to be everywhere on the marsh. Next a ringtail Hen Harrier started showing well and continued to do so for the whole afternoon. It may well have been more than one but that was hard to say; I only ever saw one flying at a time. As we stood at the marsh wall a Sparrowhawk flew over in front of us and a couple of chaps beside us pointed out a Merlin perched on the top of the mast of a small boat that has been stranded on the marsh since the high tides and winds of December 2013. The bird perched there for a long time and only moved when some people started to try to float the boat off the marsh. Unfortunately for them they really need a very high tide and a wind  blowing in the direction of the open water at that. They were still stranded there by the time we left.

As the water seeped in we started to see the birds that had been too far off earlier. There were large numbers of Shelduck and Mallards and Cormorants and Curlew flew to and fro in numbers. Closer in there were large numbers of Teal and Redshank and as the water reached the edge of the marsh wall the Meadow Pipits and Skylarks started emerge flying everywhere looking for a dry spot to settle in. Flocks of Lapwing filled the air and a small flock of Brent Geese flew by. On the water there were large numbers of Pink-footed Geese and Canada Geese.

By far the best part of the day was left relatively late. Two chaps next to us seemed to be spotting Short-eared Owls everywhere but frustratingly we could not latch on to any of them – until we did and then we saw, probably, three of them in the next half-hour even following them for minutes at a time through the scope flying across the marsh and turning back to fly over again. Another was perched on a log in the river and even though it was a long way away, it was still possible to see its face reasonably well.

Given that we had seen two Buzzards and a Kestrel on the way to Parkgate then, while we were there, saw a Hen Harrier, three short-eared Owl, A Sparrowhawk and a Merlin, we felt we had had a great raptor day. Another very different high tide than we had seen before but so much richer in some respects than our previous visits. Every visit seems to bring something special.

We stopped for a spot of lunch at The Boathouse before dropping in to RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands for a quick look but it was pretty quiet there. In fact I can’t remember being there at high tide and being anything other than disappointed. Anyway it was a chance for us to get our 2014 year list up a bit and we did get Whooper Swans as well as Gadwall and Tufted Ducks. Nothing exceptional but it did mean that we ended our day with a year list of 42 species ! Well, it’s a start and some of the birds we had seen today were really good year ticks – especially Great White Egret, Hen Harrier, Merlin and very especially Short-eared Owls !

Bird Sightings : Parkgate