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| New Brighton (A Kelso) |
The Wirral; New
Brighton, Parkgate and Burton Mere Wetlands RSPB Reserve
11th
March 2023
Weather: Morning, bright and clear. Afternoon, gloomy
and wet.
Members and friends: 20
This
destination was hastily arranged due to the snowy weather conditions in Yorkshire
precluding our planned visit to Anglers Country Park and Old Moor RSPB. Instead,
twenty members set off from Stockport for a day’s birding on the Wirral. A
Sparrowhawk passed over the coach as we set off on the M56 motorway. We added
Buzzard, Lapwing and Jay to our day’s list whilst on the coach journey.
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| Turnstone (A Kelso) |
Arriving
at New Brighton the coach dropped us off outside Morrisons as per normal. We
all headed over to the Marine Lake and scanned the pontoons. The only birds in
attendance were six Cormorant. The tide was low so there was little chance of
anything being attracted to the pontoons. A number of us walked out adjacent to
Fort Perch Rock and followed the rocky breakwater out past the lighthouse. Right
at the end of the breakwater Colin and Les found our target bird, with three
Purple Sandpipers identified amongst the adjacent small flock of Turnstone.
Oystercatcher and Redshank were also in the area and we had a single Sanderling
fly past. Most of the commoner gull species were on the beach and we added Pied
Wagtail to the list around the Morrison car park.
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| Stonechat (A Kelso) |
Returning
to the coach we took the short journey up to the other end of Kings Parade.
Alighting here, we went looking for Snow Bunting. Unfortunately, our efforts
were in vain and we only added Linnet and Little Egret to our list. Three
Sanderling on the tideline gave distant views.
Returning
to the coach we then made our way over to Parkgate, adding a party of three
Grey Partridge to our list enroute. Most
people connected immediately with a pair of Stonechat that were close in on the
saltmarsh. At least three Marsh Harrier and two Great White Egret were seen,
with the egret seemingly displaying to each other. Little Egret, Mallard, Teal
and Shoveler were all relatively close in. Further out we could see large
flocks of Pink-footed Geese moving around, with the occasional Shelduck and
Curlew. Snipe and Skylark were added to the days list. A few of the group
connected with a Merlin at the east end of the Parkgate parade.
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| Great White Egret (A Kelso) |
Black-tailed
Godwit, Canada Geese and two female Pintail were attending one of the pools. A
flock of Golden Plover flew over as we scoped over the marsh. Kestrel and a
single Great Black-backed Gull were added to our list. In the field behind the Old
Baths car park a large flock of Redwing were present. Moorhen, Blackbird and
Goldfinch were also in this location.
We
returned to the coach and made the short journey over to Burton Mere Wetlands
RSPB Reserve. The walk through the woodland adjacent to the carpark was very
quiet with only a distant calling Green Woodpecker of note.
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| Little Grebe (A Kelso) |
On
accessing the reserve, a wander down to the feeders east of the visitor centre produced
Greenfinch, Chaffinch and all the commoner tit species. We scanned the flocks
of Canada Geese for the reported Russian White-fronted Goose but did not
connect. A fly over Peregrine was a highlight.
Moving on to the rest of the reserve we found plenty
of Avocet and Black-tailed Godwit, the occasional Ruff and a distant Dunlin,
amongst a large flock of Golden Plover. As we walked through the reed bed area,
we heard the distinctive call of Cetti’s Warbler and found a fishing Little Grebe.
A Great White Egret gave good views and a lucky few had a sighting of a
Kingfisher.
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| Flushed ducks (A Kelso) |
The various pools on the reserve held Tufted Duck, Gadwall,
Wigeon and Teal. A juvenile male Marsh Harrier was perched up in a bush and a
handful of the group had good views of Water Rail. Great Crested Grebe and Grey
Heron were also recorded. A couple of pairs of Stock Dove were scattered over
the reserve and a small flock of Lesser Redpoll were found feeding in alders.
A walk up to Burton Point produced very little as
rain began to fall so we made our way back to the coach a little sodden. A
pleasant day out had produced 82 species for our list.
Birds seen;
Total Species: 82
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