Click on photos to enlarge them.
December 18
Highlight of this month’s count was the return to form of two of our key species. 3,500 teal was our highest count since 2015 and was of national importance. A third of these were using Frodsham sludge lagoons. The other species was golden plover, 2,600 was our highest count since we had 4,000 in 2004 and is our first nationally important since that date. We also had a new record with 268 coot.
We didn’t see any of the whooper swans on the count but I know the herd are still in the area. 300 pink-footed geese were on Ince Marshes along with over 4,000 Canada geese.
The 900 shelducks was double last month’s low count. 829 wigeon was the highest this winter, but is still short of numbers we used to get and I know the wild-fowlers see a lot more than that. We could do with a really big tide so wildfowl like wigeon, teal and mallard can be counted more easily: low tides enable them to disappear into the vegetation making counting quite hard. 374 mallard was half last month’s count. However, 40 pintails at Manisty was a good show. 87 shovelers was the highest this winter but nowhere near two to four hundred we have had over the past 3 winters. Just one goldeneye was surprising low for this time of year.
We didn’t see any of the whooper swans on the count but I know the herd are still in the area. 300 pink-footed geese were on Ince Marshes along with over 4,000 Canada geese.
The 900 shelducks was double last month’s low count. 829 wigeon was the highest this winter, but is still short of numbers we used to get and I know the wild-fowlers see a lot more than that. We could do with a really big tide so wildfowl like wigeon, teal and mallard can be counted more easily: low tides enable them to disappear into the vegetation making counting quite hard. 374 mallard was half last month’s count. However, 40 pintails at Manisty was a good show. 87 shovelers was the highest this winter but nowhere near two to four hundred we have had over the past 3 winters. Just one goldeneye was surprising low for this time of year.
Redshanks, teal and pintails. © Mersey WeBS
|
Teals and Mallard. © Mersey WeBS
|
Pintails in the foreground. © Mersey WeBS
|
Eighteen little egrets was half last month’s count and four great egrets was down on the 6 last month.
Amongst the waders 1,125 oystercatchers was our second highest count ever of this species and that shows a marked recent increase in this species that until 2013 had never exceeded 500. Now it does so on almost all counts. Some of that is down to an increased counting area, but on this count over 1,000 of them were at Manisty and Ince, the areas always included in Mersey WeBS counts since 1970. As well as the good golden plover flock mentioned earlier there were 7,500 lapwings. This is the highest this winter: is nationally important, but is actually below our 5 year average of 9,000. Only 35 grey plovers was pitifully small, we should be seeing several hundred of that species at this time of year. Six purple sandpiper were at New Brighton. The dunlin performed well again, welling around Stanlow Point as the tide rose and fell. In total 39,000 is slightly below the 5 year average, but that is distorted by two record breaking counts of over 60,000 and 40,000, so is nearer what I expect in mid-winter. We also had one woodcock.Ninety eight black-tailed godwits was less than I would expect but does indicate this is more of a passage bird than a winter visitor. A greenshank at New Brighton was, for the Mersey, a little unseasonal: they are usually a passage bird, except on the Dee where they overwinter. 2,898 redshanks was our second internationally important count of this species. 244 turnstone was about the same as last month. Amongst the gulls the only species of note was one yellow-legged gull at Runcorn Sands.
Amongst the waders 1,125 oystercatchers was our second highest count ever of this species and that shows a marked recent increase in this species that until 2013 had never exceeded 500. Now it does so on almost all counts. Some of that is down to an increased counting area, but on this count over 1,000 of them were at Manisty and Ince, the areas always included in Mersey WeBS counts since 1970. As well as the good golden plover flock mentioned earlier there were 7,500 lapwings. This is the highest this winter: is nationally important, but is actually below our 5 year average of 9,000. Only 35 grey plovers was pitifully small, we should be seeing several hundred of that species at this time of year. Six purple sandpiper were at New Brighton. The dunlin performed well again, welling around Stanlow Point as the tide rose and fell. In total 39,000 is slightly below the 5 year average, but that is distorted by two record breaking counts of over 60,000 and 40,000, so is nearer what I expect in mid-winter. We also had one woodcock.Ninety eight black-tailed godwits was less than I would expect but does indicate this is more of a passage bird than a winter visitor. A greenshank at New Brighton was, for the Mersey, a little unseasonal: they are usually a passage bird, except on the Dee where they overwinter. 2,898 redshanks was our second internationally important count of this species. 244 turnstone was about the same as last month. Amongst the gulls the only species of note was one yellow-legged gull at Runcorn Sands.
Dunlins. © Mersey WeBS
|
Swirling dunlins. © Mersey WeBS
|
Dunlins in flight. © Mersey WeBS
|
|
We again had seven bird of prey species including both hen and marsh harrier.
|
This buzzard at Pickerings Pasture is particularly tame. © M. Roberts
|
Female hen harrier on Hale Marsh. © M. Roberts
|
November 18
The highlights of the November Mersey WeBS count was a record equalling six great egrets, four of which I saw all within 10 yards of each other. Although the weather has been calm and mild, winter has definitely returned with many of the winter visitors arrived, though the large numbers have yet to build up.
Twenty one whooper swans was higher than the ten from last month. Despite many pink-footed geese being around, and Andy seeing 900 leaving the estuary in the mornings, we only counted three on the count. Canada goose has dropped from 3,700 to 3,000.
Twenty one whooper swans was higher than the ten from last month. Despite many pink-footed geese being around, and Andy seeing 900 leaving the estuary in the mornings, we only counted three on the count. Canada goose has dropped from 3,700 to 3,000.
Two adult whooper swans. © Mersey WeBS
|
Whooper swans - a family party. © Mersey WeBS
|
Four great-white egrets. © Mersey WeBS
|
Five hundred shelducks was about half last month’s count, while 500 wigeons was well up on last month. 1,600 teal was much better than last month’s 600, but I am still hoping for much bigger numbers over the coming months, although numbers have been pretty low for the last few years, so I might be disappointed. 700 mallards was the same as last month. Thirty shovelers was lower than last month and nothing compared to 280 we had last November: it seems the Frodsham Lagoons are not as suitable as they have been in the last few winters.
Four years ago 234 cormorants would have been a new record but now it is the 6th consecutive month we have had over 200! Forty little egret would have set a record 3 years ago, but now it is what we expect, as it 6 great egrets.
Six hundred and fifty oystercatchers was similar to last month. Over 800 golden plovers was good though I expect more later in the year and 6,156 lapwings were impressive but 44 short of nationally important. 80 knot was a good count made by Shaun at Manisty. 14 sanderling was our second highest count ever. Considering the large numbers on the Wirral coast of these species we get very few. 30,000 dunlins was re-assuring that our key winter visitors have returned and they performed some lovely murmurations from Stanlow Point which Shaun captured on his phone and has posted on our Facebook page. 42 snipes was the highest count for 5 years. 238 black-tailed godwit was half last month’s and shows they have moved off to Portugal or wherever they choose to spend the winter. 1,700 redshank was slightly up on last month and was nationally important.
Four years ago 234 cormorants would have been a new record but now it is the 6th consecutive month we have had over 200! Forty little egret would have set a record 3 years ago, but now it is what we expect, as it 6 great egrets.
Six hundred and fifty oystercatchers was similar to last month. Over 800 golden plovers was good though I expect more later in the year and 6,156 lapwings were impressive but 44 short of nationally important. 80 knot was a good count made by Shaun at Manisty. 14 sanderling was our second highest count ever. Considering the large numbers on the Wirral coast of these species we get very few. 30,000 dunlins was re-assuring that our key winter visitors have returned and they performed some lovely murmurations from Stanlow Point which Shaun captured on his phone and has posted on our Facebook page. 42 snipes was the highest count for 5 years. 238 black-tailed godwit was half last month’s and shows they have moved off to Portugal or wherever they choose to spend the winter. 1,700 redshank was slightly up on last month and was nationally important.
Lapwings in flight. © Mersey WeBS
|
Cormorant. © M. Roberts
|
Little egret & lapwings. © Mersey WeBS
|
We had six birds of prey species with marsh and hen harrier, buzzard, sparrowhawk, kestrel, 2 merlins and 6 peregrines. Amongst the other birds 1,200 woodpigeon at Manisty was quite a sight.
Kestrel at Oglet. © M. Roberts
|
Marsh harrier. © Mersey WeBS
|
Buzzard at Pickerings Pasture. © C. Cockbain
|
October 18
The highlight for October was a record breaking number of Great Egrets with six: beating our previous record of five recorded in the previous two winters. This is the same number as Rob found roosting at Hale on the 6th October. It is amazing to think this was such a rare bird a few years ago with our first ever record just seven years ago.
October saw some of our winter visitors make their first appearance with twelve whooper swans at Frodsham and twelve pink-footed geese at Ince. 3.700 Canada Geese were 1,000 up on last month.
October saw some of our winter visitors make their first appearance with twelve whooper swans at Frodsham and twelve pink-footed geese at Ince. 3.700 Canada Geese were 1,000 up on last month.
Little Egret in gutter at Frodsham. © Mersey WeBS
|
Egrets gathering for roost. © R Cockbain
|
Herons gathering for roost. © R. Cockbain
|
Mainly cormorants. © R Cockbain
|
Duck numbers are still quite low. In the last two Octobers we have had over 300 shovelers, mostly on Frodsham Sludge Lagoons, but this year the October count was just 40, perhaps they are just a bit late turning up this year, or the conditions aren't quite right for them yet.
Cormorants have continued their high numbers with 319 this count, slightly up on September, but below the 375 of August, and our record 450 in July. We had a count of 431 roosting at Hale on the 6th October. 350 is the threshold for national importance. Our current 5 year average is 310, however, when this years’ counts are added our 5 year average will be over 350 demonstrating the Mersey Estuary is nationally important for cormorants.
Cormorants have continued their high numbers with 319 this count, slightly up on September, but below the 375 of August, and our record 450 in July. We had a count of 431 roosting at Hale on the 6th October. 350 is the threshold for national importance. Our current 5 year average is 310, however, when this years’ counts are added our 5 year average will be over 350 demonstrating the Mersey Estuary is nationally important for cormorants.
Waders were a bit thin on the ground with ten ruffs being the most significant. 589 curlews was very poor. Our 5 year average is 2,000 which is over the nationally important threshold. They normally peak in September and October and with just 1,100 in September it has been a poor year so far for curlew. Redshank numbers were down, but this is probably because we couldn’t get access to Eastham Locks this month, where last month there were over 3,500. 1,900 dunlins will be dwarfed next month with hopefully 10 or 20 times that number.
Four Mediterranean Gulls at the Garden Festival site equals our previous record set in July this year, another sign of changing bird populations. Amongst the gulls, the real beast is the great black-backed gull and numbers of this brute was 666, which is just a few short of our record of 702.
We had 46 raptors of seven species including 24 buzzards, 9 kestrels, 5 peregrines and 3 marsh harriers. Again it's not so long ago that those would have been unbelievable numbers.
Next count is November 11th when hopefully the wintering dunlin will have arrived and the duck numbers increased.
Four Mediterranean Gulls at the Garden Festival site equals our previous record set in July this year, another sign of changing bird populations. Amongst the gulls, the real beast is the great black-backed gull and numbers of this brute was 666, which is just a few short of our record of 702.
We had 46 raptors of seven species including 24 buzzards, 9 kestrels, 5 peregrines and 3 marsh harriers. Again it's not so long ago that those would have been unbelievable numbers.
Next count is November 11th when hopefully the wintering dunlin will have arrived and the duck numbers increased.
Ducks & waders gathering at high tide. © Mersey WeBS
|
The fox put in another appearance. © Mersey WeBS
|
Great black-backed gull. © R. Cockbain
|
September 18
September sees the return of migrating and wintering waders, with both redshank and curlew peaking in September and October. The redshank count was particularly impressive with over 4,500: this is the 11th highest yearly maximum and puts our numbers back to what they were in the late 1980's and 90's. Over 3,500 of them were in one place at Eastham Locks.
The other highlight was a group of grey plovers found by Ian. Amongst them were some colour-ringed birds, however, rather than revealing an Arctic origin for these winter visitors the rings were applied at Altcar on Merseyside last year!
Canada goose numbers have dropped from over 7,000 last month to 2,600, as the birds disperse to other estuaries like the Dee for the winter. The moulting shelduck flock also dropped from over 7,000 to about 700.
Duck numbers have not started to build up yet, with just 30 wigeons and 140 teals. A garganey was a great find by John on the Weaver Bend. 85 great-crested grebes was a good count especially as Birkenhead Docks, one of their favoured haunts, was not counted this time. After two nationally important cormorant counts in a row we had just 289 this time, but that is still our fourth highest count. The same goes for grey heron, 60 was our fourth highest count ever. Three great egrets were seen.
The other highlight was a group of grey plovers found by Ian. Amongst them were some colour-ringed birds, however, rather than revealing an Arctic origin for these winter visitors the rings were applied at Altcar on Merseyside last year!
Canada goose numbers have dropped from over 7,000 last month to 2,600, as the birds disperse to other estuaries like the Dee for the winter. The moulting shelduck flock also dropped from over 7,000 to about 700.
Duck numbers have not started to build up yet, with just 30 wigeons and 140 teals. A garganey was a great find by John on the Weaver Bend. 85 great-crested grebes was a good count especially as Birkenhead Docks, one of their favoured haunts, was not counted this time. After two nationally important cormorant counts in a row we had just 289 this time, but that is still our fourth highest count. The same goes for grey heron, 60 was our fourth highest count ever. Three great egrets were seen.
Nine hundred oystercatchers were our second highest count and maintains a remarkable and sudden increase in numbers. There were smaller numbers of ringed, grey and golden plovers and over 1,000 lapwings. 1000 dunlins was a drop from last month’s 2,500. Seven hundred black-tailed godwits was internationally important but a drop on last month’s 1,100. 1,100 curlews was lower than I hoped and below average for a species that has shown an increase in the last five years, making the River Mersey nationally important. This count was below the nationally important threshold of 1,400.
Amongst the gulls were two Mediterranean gulls and 352 greater black-backed was impressive, though slightly below our average yearly maximum. Six raptor species were the common species and included the first merlins of the season with a total of three counted. There was also a short-eared owl at Hale. Amongst the passerines there was an impressive twenty five yellow wagtails at Hale.
Amongst the gulls were two Mediterranean gulls and 352 greater black-backed was impressive, though slightly below our average yearly maximum. Six raptor species were the common species and included the first merlins of the season with a total of three counted. There was also a short-eared owl at Hale. Amongst the passerines there was an impressive twenty five yellow wagtails at Hale.
Two great egrets and five little egrets. © Mersey WeBS
|
Female merlin with Canada Geese in background. © Mersey WeBS
|
Hale Marsh at high tide. © C Cockbain
|
Curlew. © M. Roberts
|
Fox out on the saltmarsh. © Mersey WeBS
|
Two cormorants and a buzzard. © C Cockbain
|
July and August 2018
The good weather, the world cup and my holiday mean I am a bit behind in my monthly summarises. Anyway here is a combined July and August summary.
Unusually the August Canada goose count of 7,300 was higher than the July count of 5,400. Shelduck numbered 5,000 in July and 7,300 in August which is an impressive sight and although down on recent years it will mean the we remain the best place for shelduck in the country. Both counts were of international importance. With them in July was a ruddy shelduck.
We have already broken a record with 450 cormorant in July. 299 of these were at the breeding colony at Hale. However, the 372 count in August was our fourth highest count ever, but this time the birds were more dispersed with 167 at Ince, 92 at Manisty and just 98 at Hale. Both counts were nationally important.
Unusually the August Canada goose count of 7,300 was higher than the July count of 5,400. Shelduck numbered 5,000 in July and 7,300 in August which is an impressive sight and although down on recent years it will mean the we remain the best place for shelduck in the country. Both counts were of international importance. With them in July was a ruddy shelduck.
We have already broken a record with 450 cormorant in July. 299 of these were at the breeding colony at Hale. However, the 372 count in August was our fourth highest count ever, but this time the birds were more dispersed with 167 at Ince, 92 at Manisty and just 98 at Hale. Both counts were nationally important.
Cormorants flying up the Estuary are now a common sight. © M. Roberts.
|
Roosting cormorants. © M. Roberts.
|
Feeding a young cormorant! © M. Roberts.
|
Young cormorants practicing their fishing skills. © R Cockbain
|
650 oystercatchers is the same as last month. The most remarkable waders in July were 48 avocets, 15 on the Weaver Estuary and 33 on the mudflats by the Weaver Sluices at Ince. Some of them had rather brown instead of black markings indicating they were this year’s birds and I expect from a local site, maybe ICI Lagoons by the Weaver that we can’t see into.
Over 1,000 lapwings was a very good count for July with half being at Runcorn Sands and half at Hale. Other plover numbers were beginning to build up with 200 golden plover and a lovely flock of 27 grey plover at Stanlow Point, many of which were in summer plumage. Ringed plover have a massive peak in August but can be hard to pick up on
WeBS counts as they move through quite quickly and so while we had 260 on the WeBS count Rob counted 820 a few days later around Hale Lighthouse. This count is of international importance. This time last year Rob had 1,200 on the 19th August and then a record breaking 4,000 on the 22nd.
Dunlin numbers increased from 31 in July to 2,700 in August with many adults still in summer plumage. Black-tailed godwits were of international importance in both months with 600 and 1,100 in July and August. There were over 600 curlew in both months. The 1,000 redshank in July doubled to over 2,100 in August a figure that is of national importance. Turnstone jumped from 3 to 159 as bird return from their Arctic breeding grounds.
Over 1,000 lapwings was a very good count for July with half being at Runcorn Sands and half at Hale. Other plover numbers were beginning to build up with 200 golden plover and a lovely flock of 27 grey plover at Stanlow Point, many of which were in summer plumage. Ringed plover have a massive peak in August but can be hard to pick up on
WeBS counts as they move through quite quickly and so while we had 260 on the WeBS count Rob counted 820 a few days later around Hale Lighthouse. This count is of international importance. This time last year Rob had 1,200 on the 19th August and then a record breaking 4,000 on the 22nd.
Dunlin numbers increased from 31 in July to 2,700 in August with many adults still in summer plumage. Black-tailed godwits were of international importance in both months with 600 and 1,100 in July and August. There were over 600 curlew in both months. The 1,000 redshank in July doubled to over 2,100 in August a figure that is of national importance. Turnstone jumped from 3 to 159 as bird return from their Arctic breeding grounds.
Raptors included a record of six marsh harriers. With such a mobile species it is hard to know whether that was six different birds but I certainly saw three at one time. Another record was three ospreys. Amongst the gulls were four Mediterranean gulls and a yellow-legged gull and both months had over 4,000 black-headed gulls.
Our next count is fast approaching on the 9th September. Wader passage will be in full swing and redshank and curlew reach their peak in September or October.
Our next count is fast approaching on the 9th September. Wader passage will be in full swing and redshank and curlew reach their peak in September or October.
Curlew. © M. Roberts.
|
Young peregrine. © M. Roberts.
|
Young peregrine. © M. Roberts.
|
Yellow-legged gull. © M. Roberts.
|
Avocet flock. © Mersey WeBS
|
The brownish feathers on the nearest avocet indicate a juvenile. © Mersey WeBS
|
Dunlins. At mouth of R Gowy. © Mersey WeBS
|
Grey plover in summer plumage. Stanlow Point. © Mersey WeBS
|
The photo fails to convey the size of the Canada G flock. © Mersey WeBS
|
Part of the shelduck flock. © Mersey WeBS
|
One ruddy duck was with the common shelducks. © Mersey WeBS
|
A young yellow wagtail - Ince Marshes. © Mersey WeBS
|
Common swift © M. Roberts.
|
|
