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The Hoylake “Bird Observatory” Bird Report for 2000-1 |
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Systematic list - The status line included for each species is adapted from the Cheshire and Wirral Ornithological Society's bird report. T *[The data are distorted by observer activity, greatest in April, May, September and October and patchy November to February and by frequency of recording observations; i.e all Whimbrel are logged but only occasional counts of Curlew were made historically]
Pomarine Skua Stercorcarius pomarinus Very scarce autumn visitor to
Wirral north shore where rare and irregular in summer.
A dark morph sub-adult on Sept 15th and a first winter on Nov 6th were the only records of 2001.
Arctic Skua Stercorcarius parasiticus Scarce summer and autumn
visitor.
In 2001 birds were recorded regularly between Aug 26th and Sept 15th, with 37 on Sept 7th the highest count by some margin. In addition there were singles on June 21st, Nov 4thand Nov 6th. In the early part of both years most of the records were of dark phase non-breeding adults. Long-tailed Skua Stercorcarius longicaudatus Rare coastal migrant. A rather dark immature flew west close inshore at low tide on Sept 6th 2000. It was last seen heading up the Dee Estuary, nearly cutting the corner of the Wirral at Red Rocks. We have often seen Leach's Petrels take this line, having followed the gutter inside the East Hoyle sandbank and then found themselves a huge distance from the open sea. In 2001 classic white-headed juveniles were recorded on Sept 7th and Sept 15th. It is possible that two were present on the former date.
Great Skua Stercorcarius skua Very scarce autumn migrant and
irregular winter visitor. In 2001 there was single on Apr 7th 2001, then a series of records between Sept 1st and Sept 21st. Ten on Sept 15th and 12 the following day were the largest counts. One bird favoured feeding on tideline corpses, right underneath the promenade. It frequently caused mayhem in the gull roosts!
Mediterranean Gull Larus melanocephalus Very scarce visitor throughout the
year.
Little Gull Larus minutus Scarce coastal migrant.
Sabine's Gull Larus sabini Vagrant.
Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus Abundant winter visitor and
migrant.
Common Gull Larus canus Common widespread migrant, winter
visitor and non-breeding summer visitor.
Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus Common widespread migrant, winter
visitor and non-breeding summer visitor. A dark-backed bird, either L.f.intermedius or L.f.fuscus was present on Jul 1st 2000.
Herring Gull Larus argentatus Very common non-breeding resident
and winter visitor.
Original sketch On Oct 21st 2001 a bird showing characteristics of the North American race was present on the beach. The record has been submitted to the BBRC
Yellow-legged Gull Larus (argentatus) michahellis Scarce visitor in summer and early
autumn, otherwise rare. An extremely large sleek bird was present on Nov 5th 2001. We are currently exploring the possibility that this was of the Atlantic island race L.(a).michahellis atlantis
Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus Uncommon resident and winter
visitor.
Kittiwake Rissa Tridactyla Uncommon Coastal migrant and
winter visitor. Monthly maxima 2000:
2001:
The Nov 2000 recorded in a westerly passage on Nov 1st maximum smashed the existing Red Rocks record. |
