A Summary of the WeBS Counts on the River Mersey - 2015
Click on photos to enlarge
December '15
Despite the damp and gloomy weather we had another record breaking count. This broken record was rather special as, although we have routinely been breaking records, we have not broken any for our key species for a long time. However, this month we have. We are the best estuary in Britain for dunlin with an average maximum of 44,000. However, with 44,600 at Ince and over 23,000 at Hale we had over 68,000 beating the previous record of 64,000 set in 1994/95. This is only the third time we have had over 60,000.
Part of the 44,000 dunlin at Ince, which was part of the 68,000 we had in total. © Shaun Hickey
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Dunlins at Stanlow Point. ©
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Dunlin flock at Hale Marsh. © C. Cockbain
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Thirty three little egrets were also a record and most of them (25) were in one flock on Manisty Marsh. It was like being on the Dee Estuary as I walked through them. Over 800 lesser black-backed gulls was a record for that species too.
Other remarkable counts were nearly 5,000 Canada geese mostly on Ince Marshes. Numbers usually peak around 5,000 in the summer after breeding and then fall off so 5,000 in December is unusual. 3 great white egrets were nice. The rarest bird was the green-winged teal at Frodsham. 5 twite was a bird we have not had for a long time. Some species were notable by the absence with just 7 black-tailed godwits and no peregrines.
November '15
It was a truly remarkable count this month: not dominated by rain, as I had feared, but by the wind and in a good way. The strong wind forced not one, but two, species of diver into the estuary. Two text messages arrived at the same time: one saying a great-northern diver was near the Weaver Estuary, the other from over 10 miles away at Eastham Locks saying there was a red-throated diver flying towards Liverpool. Not only that but there was also a great skua flying down-river.
Other than these amazing highlights there were plenty of waders and ducks around. There was a good count of over 900 golden plovers and 4,819 lapwings. Dunlins were just over 25,000 which is about half our usual maximum, hopefully there will be more next month.
In among the 2,600 Canada Geese at Ince were five pale-bellied brent geese which is a new high for Mersey. 52 gadwalls was also a new record, as was over 440 greater black-backed gulls. Four merlins and two great-white egrets were also good finds as was the three rock pipits at Manisty and one at Birkenhead.
In among the 2,600 Canada Geese at Ince were five pale-bellied brent geese which is a new high for Mersey. 52 gadwalls was also a new record, as was over 440 greater black-backed gulls. Four merlins and two great-white egrets were also good finds as was the three rock pipits at Manisty and one at Birkenhead.
Golden plovers & greater black=backed gulls at Ince. © S. Hickey
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Whooper swans. © D. Smith
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Waders roosting at Eastham. © R. Brumby
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Four of five pale-bellied brent geese. © D. Smith
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Grey herons at Eastham. © R. Brumby
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Waders roosting at Eastham. © R. Brumby
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Teals and redshanks in the Gowy.© D. Smith
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October '15
October is usually the peak month for redshank and so it proved, with 3,131 this was our highest redshank count for 10 years. When added to the four previous years it means our 5 year average is over 2,400 and so the Mersey is once again internationally important for redshank. Although we had 18 species of waders their numbers were slightly down on last month. Dunlin at 2,500 was surprising low; I expect at least 10 times that number next month. Black-tailed godwits were in very short supply with only 127. 150 golden plover was a good count in the Upper Estuary as the rest of the estuary only managed 18. Duck numbers are beginning to build up and the water on No 6 tank at Frodsham was heaving with birds including an impressive 120 shoveler.
No 6 tank at Frodsham. © Dermot Smith
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Shoveler on No 6 tank at Frodsham. © Dermot Smith
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Peregrine on a chimney at Frodsham. © Dermot Smith.
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We have not been counting gulls long so we often break gull records and did so this weekend with over 300 great black-backed gulls.
Liverpool skyline with dunlin. © Shaun Hickey
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Dunlin at Stanlow Point. © Shaun Hickey
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Curlew at Manisty Bay. © Shaun Hickey
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September '15
We had another fantastic count with 22 wader species: five of them in nationally important numbers and one internationally. There were several surprises. We had our first ever double figure count of green sandpipers, 10, which is also nationally important. 2,149 curlew was a good count, 600 more than our average maximum. However, star of the show must go to the 1,390 ringed plovers that Rob had at Hale. With a few elsewhere we had over 1,400. That is double our average maximum and means our current 5 year average would make the Mersey internationally important for ringed plover. The graphs below show monthly averages for the Mersey and nationally. As you can see ringed plovers are very much a passage bird with a major peak usually in August. Nationally there is a second spring peak that we don’t see on the Mersey. However, it is easy for us to miss a species that can be here one day in big numbers and gone the next.
Another surprise was that our two most important wader species, dunlin and black-tailed godwit, were in unusually low numbers. Turnstone was unusual in that the 55 were at Garston not in their usual place at New Ferry. The Narrows had a good count of 136.
Little and great crested grebe, cormorant, little egret and heron were all well above average.
There was a good variety of duck species including our first goldeneye of the winter, but as expected for the time of year none were in big numbers yet. Our moulting flock of shelduck have moved on as last month’s 10,500 had fallen to just 1,300 birds. One surprise for me was the absence of Canada geese on Ince Marshes; where there are normally several thousand we had less than a hundred. However, there were still over 3,000 at Hale.
275 great-black backed gulls was a new high, as was 12 kestrels.
There are three site cabins on site at Frodsham and the marsh is covered with small yellow boxes which are part of a seismic survey someone is doing to test for oil and gas, possibly shale gas deposits. I hope they don’t find any that will affect our precious estuary!
Little and great crested grebe, cormorant, little egret and heron were all well above average.
There was a good variety of duck species including our first goldeneye of the winter, but as expected for the time of year none were in big numbers yet. Our moulting flock of shelduck have moved on as last month’s 10,500 had fallen to just 1,300 birds. One surprise for me was the absence of Canada geese on Ince Marshes; where there are normally several thousand we had less than a hundred. However, there were still over 3,000 at Hale.
275 great-black backed gulls was a new high, as was 12 kestrels.
There are three site cabins on site at Frodsham and the marsh is covered with small yellow boxes which are part of a seismic survey someone is doing to test for oil and gas, possibly shale gas deposits. I hope they don’t find any that will affect our precious estuary!
August '15
The August WeBS count was a good one with 19 wader species returning from the north and duck numbers starting to climb. The Canada Goose count was probably our third highest count ever, but at just over 5,000 it was almost half last month’s record total. 10,500 shelducks was a very good count, up 2,000 on last month. With 9,000 last year and 12,000 the year before we will have a 6 year average of 9,300 which would make us the best place in Britain for shelduck, surpassing the Dee average of 8,600. The Mersey and Dee are the only two places in the country that often get over 10,000 shelduck.
46 great crested grebes is the highest count for four years and reflects an increase since some very barren years in the mid-2000s. 273 was the second highest count of cormorant we have had. There was a wide range of waders with dunlin, ruff and redshank in nationally important numbers while 2,451 black-tailed godwits is internationally important and slightly above our recent average. 27 buzzards was a new high. However, for those counting at Stanlow the highlight was undoubtedly two badgers feeding on blackberries in broad daylight. We had seen lots of footprints recently, but I never thought we would see them as our counts are usually around midday. The Upper Estuary did well with 60 Black-tailed godwits and the Narrows had 135 turnstone.
The next count is the on the 13th September, just over 9 metres. However, at the end of September there are some very high tides, the highest in the 19 year tidal cycle. The biggest tide is in the middle of the night on the 29th September.
46 great crested grebes is the highest count for four years and reflects an increase since some very barren years in the mid-2000s. 273 was the second highest count of cormorant we have had. There was a wide range of waders with dunlin, ruff and redshank in nationally important numbers while 2,451 black-tailed godwits is internationally important and slightly above our recent average. 27 buzzards was a new high. However, for those counting at Stanlow the highlight was undoubtedly two badgers feeding on blackberries in broad daylight. We had seen lots of footprints recently, but I never thought we would see them as our counts are usually around midday. The Upper Estuary did well with 60 Black-tailed godwits and the Narrows had 135 turnstone.
The next count is the on the 13th September, just over 9 metres. However, at the end of September there are some very high tides, the highest in the 19 year tidal cycle. The biggest tide is in the middle of the night on the 29th September.
July 2015
I
thought we might break our Canada goose record, but I didn’t think we would
smash it: up from last year’s 5,500 we had 9,000 on Sunday! Astonishingly, there
were over 7,500 covering Ince Marshes with another 1,500 at Hale. That is
probably, by quite a long way, the biggest Canada goose flock ever seen in
Britain and confirms our place as number one for this invasive alien.
The Canada goose flock on Ince Marshes. © S. Hickey
Shelduck family with five ducklings. © E. Monteith
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After
a few lean years our count of 8,400 was the third year in a row we have had
over 8,000 shelducks, making us internationally important and second only to
the Dee Estuary for this species.
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Waders
returning after summer up north were evident with over 1,400 black-tailed
godwits,
660 redshanks, 645 curlews and 400 oystercatchers. The godwits at No 6 tank, Frodsham looked very impressive. 26 whimbrel was notable, with 12 at New Ferry where Elliot Montieth took a fantastic picture of 8 of them. As well as breaking the Canada Goose record 12 avocets on the Weaver Estuary was a new record. In total we had 15 wader species.
660 redshanks, 645 curlews and 400 oystercatchers. The godwits at No 6 tank, Frodsham looked very impressive. 26 whimbrel was notable, with 12 at New Ferry where Elliot Montieth took a fantastic picture of 8 of them. As well as breaking the Canada Goose record 12 avocets on the Weaver Estuary was a new record. In total we had 15 wader species.
Redshanks. © E. Monteith
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Eight whimbrel. © E. Monteith
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Redshanks showing wing-moult. © E. Monteith
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The Upper Estuary also had a good wader return with double figure counts of dunlin, curlew and black-tailed godwits. At the Mersey Narrows 43 turnstones was a good count.
Summer plumaged dunlin. © S. Hickey
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Sanderling. © S. Hickey
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Our
raptor records don’t go back far, but 8 kestrels was a new record and although
not on the count Ian and I saw 4 different marsh harriers at Frodsham.
Next month should see further increases in waders with our peak in ringed plover. Recent high counts of this species have made us internationally important for this species and the 10th best site in the UK. Hopefully we will get more shelducks, but hopefully no more Canada Geese!
Next month should see further increases in waders with our peak in ringed plover. Recent high counts of this species have made us internationally important for this species and the 10th best site in the UK. Hopefully we will get more shelducks, but hopefully no more Canada Geese!
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Dermot Smith. (Mersey WeBS Co-ordinator) |
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