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March 2024 Newsletter


 

Highlights - March 2023 to February 2024


Summer plumaged Black Guillemot flying with Oystercatchers off Hilbre, June 2023 ©Phil Woollen

Here is my usual yearly summary on the 26th Anniversary of this Dee Estuary Birding website. I always enjoy looking back over the previous 12 months, and there is certainly plenty to write about.

Spring

Cold northerly winds and some thick snow in early March meant that the spring migration was late - but the weather changed, the 17th was a lovely spring day and brought in our first Wheatears, Sandwich Tern, White Wagtail and loads of Stonechats including over 30 at Leasowe Lighthouse. Five days later we were in for a big surprise when four Alpine Swifts were seen, our first ever multiple record for this species which is far from being annual in our area -  in total we reckoned eight different  Alpine Swifts were recorded  in March.

Another unexpected multiple record of a rarity were two Black Guillemots at Hilbre on March 25th. Presumably it was one of these which was later seen in summer plumage off both Hilbre and North Wirral on many occasions right through to June. Amusingly, this bird seemed to think it was an Oystercatcher as it was frequently seen with them on the rocks at the north end of Hilbre!

RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands (BMW) had more than it's fair share of rarities in April with a Black-winged Stilt (later also at Talacre), a Gull Billed Tern and a Savi's Warbler. Four records of Blue-headed Wagtail was a good number for this continental race of Yellow Wagtails. The spring migration continued into early May with 33 Wheatears at Burton on the 1st and 184 Whimbrels at Heswall on the 2nd.

Black-winged Stilt at Burton Mere Wetlands, June 2023 © Mark Woodhead


Summer

A White-tailed Eagle, which had been on the Mersey Estuary, flew over the Dee Estuary in June - it had a tracker so seen by a satellite but unfortunately not by any human. Two nice rairites in July were a Red-backed Shrike in the dunes between Gronant and Point of Ayr and a Night Heron at Burton Mere Wetlands. Some strong winds blew in three Storm Petrels.

In August the mud off Meols attracted Cheshire and Wirral's second ever Citrine Wagtail, and also several adult Curlew Sandpipers in various stages of moult.

Citrine Wagtail on Meols shore, August 2023 © Graham Connolly


Autumn

September saw a good passage of juvenile Curlew Sandpipers, 13 were at BMW for six days but probably the best views of them were just off the West Kirby Marine Lake wall where the birds were happily feeding just a few feet from the many people walking around the lake.

Juvenile Curlew Sandpipers just off the south end of West Kirby Marine Lake, September 2023 © Allan Conlin

A Baird's Sandpiper was a nice find off Hoylake, a third record for the Dee Estuary. A few Leach's Petrels were seen in the second half of September, we would have had a lot more if the winds had blown in the right direction for a day or two longer - so we were a bit frustrated!

A few Black Terns were spotted including five off Hilbre, and there was a high count of 190 Arctic Terns at Hoylake.

Cattle Egrets continue to increase and there were 19 at BMW in October, 13 Spoonbills were also present. The last day of October saw a Pallas's Warbler at Talacre and one was at Hilbre just a few days later in early November. Other nice rarities were a Richard's Pipit and a Barred Warbler.

There was a big influx of Short-eared Owls into the country in November and we saw quite a few here including six off Denhall Quay early in the month. Disappointingly, numbers soon dropped and just one was seen in December. There were plenty of Marsh Harriers around including 18 at Parkgate on Nov 4th.

Winter

It was a Waxwing winter. And about time too, as the last one was in the winter of 2012/13 (see Species Spotlight - Waxwings). We first saw a handful at the end of November with more around in December including 10 by M&S Foodhall in Heswall. Up to 17 in Saughall Massie at the end of December gave good views but the lack of Rowan berries meant numbers remained low. But Waxwings also eat Hawthorn berries and they found plenty on Halkyn Mountain amidst the quarries west of Pentre Halkyn. The first report was of at least 50 on Jan 24th and two days later it was reckoned over 180 were in the area, and they remained there right through to the end of February. So if they were there for at least 30 days, and if we say, at a rough conservative guess, there were an average of 80 a day - that makes 2400 records (sum of daily totals), more than the 2250 total records in the winter of 2012/13 which, until now, was regarded as the best Waxwing winter ever in our area. Fantastic!

Waxwings on a Hawthorn tree, Halkyn Mountain, February 2024 © Rob Devenish


We had some nice ducks in January including a lovely drake Smew both on Warren Farm at Talacre and, for one day, West Kirby Marine Lake. There were up to three Long-tailed Ducks off Hoylake and an American Wigeon at BMW, the latter was the rare 'Storm Wigeon' variant with a white head - presumably the same one seen on Anglesey earlier in the winter. A Slavonian Grebe was off Hilbre for a couple of days then after a brief visit to West Kirby Marine Lake, visited the Welsh side of the estuary near Bagillt. Six Snow Buntings were at Point of Ayr and five at Gronant, and a Glaucous Gull flew along the Shore at Meols.

February 12th saw one of the biggest tides of the year which covered the marshes right up to Burton. In fact there were at least three very high spring tides around that date giving a great spectacle of birds including thousands of Pink-footed Geese and waders, plus great views of Water Rails and both Hen and Marsh Harriers. Three Short-eared Owls were at Decca Pools on the highest tide with six over Burton Marsh four days later.

American 'Storm' Wigeon at Burton Mere Wetlands, January 2024 © Mark Woodhead

Richard Smith

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Colour Ring Report


Curlew

Curlew W/BN (plus GPS transmitter) at Flint on January 14th 2024 © Brian Kermode


W/BN with GPS transmitter

Recorded at Flint Castle on 14/01/2024 and featured in January's colour ring report. Since then I have received another map showing the movements of this bird as tracked by GPS over the whole of this last autumn and winter - see below (map kindly provided by Rob Foster). It's shows just how site faithful Curlews are with this bird hardly moving away from Flint Marsh and the adjacent mudflats



Bar-tailed Godwits

520 Bar-tailed Godwits on Hoylake Shore on February 9th was an unusually high number and I was very pleased to see four with colour rings.

Bar-tailed Godwit R-Yflag (NVZ) at Hoylake, February 9th 2024 © Richard Smith


R-Yflag(NVZ)
Ringed at Revtangen, SW Norway, on 25/08/2020.
Recorded:
At Le Teich Reserve on the Atlantic French coast (about 20km SW of Bordeaux) on 31/12/2020.
Dawlish Warren, Devon, on 06/01/2021.
Ainsdale on 25/05/2021.
Hoylake on 09/02/2024.

R-Yflag(CPA)
Ringed at Telemark, southern Norway, on 16/08/2021.
It was recorded at Seaforth, Birkdale and Thurstaston over the winter of 2021/22.
Presumably it was a juvenile when it was ringed as it didn't breed the following summer spending June 2022 at Ainsdale.
It was then seen several times along the Sefton coast including roosting at Seaforth, with the last record that winter at Formby in March. It returned to Seaforth in September 2023 and at Crosby in October 2023. There were then no further records this last winter until it turned up at Hoylake on 09/02/2024.

Bar-tailed Godwit Oflag(XN) - P at Hoylake, February 9th 2024 © Richard Smith


Oflag(XN) - P
Ringed at Altcar on 30/3/2018.
It returned to nearby Formby in July that year and remained in the area until January 2019. There was a similar pattern from July 2019 to March 2020 when it was at Ainsdale.
Sightings then became more infrequent with sightings in November 2021 at Ainsdale and January 2023 at Formby before being recorded at Hoylake on 09/02/2024.

Oflag(MC) - P
Ringed at Altcar on 30/3/2018.
First record was at Thurstaston in November 2018.
It was then seen 12 times along the Sefton coast between March 2019 and December 2021 before being recorded at Thurstaston again in January 2022.
There was just one further record, at Formby in January 2023, before it turned up at Hoylake on 09/02/2024.

Black-tailed Godwits

Black-tailed Godwit Oflag(AN) at Burton Mere Wetlands, February 2024 © Richard Smith

G - Oflag(AN)
Before November 2022 no Black-tailed Godwits had ever been colour ringed on the west side of mainland Britain. But a new scheme using inscribed Orange flags has changed that. Just one was caught and ringed in Anglesey in November 2022 but now 20 more have been given orange flags, all of which were caught along the North Wales coast this last winter. Remarkably, 10 of these 21 birds were seen in NW England in the last week of February. These include five at Burton Mere Wetlands, the rest being seen at Martin Mere, Conder Green and Leighton Moss. This clearly shows that the godwits which over-winter in North Wales stage in north-west England before they return to Iceland to breed.

LO-O= at Caldy, August 2022 © Richard Smith


LO-O=
Ringed at Belfast Harbour in April 2021.
This bird, which has featured in previous Colour Ring Reports, has spent the last three post breeding moult periods (2021 to 2023, July to October) on the Dee Estuary being mostly seen at the Caldy Wildfowl Collection. The spring moult, in March and April, sees it at Belfast Harbour.
Until February 2024, there had been no records during the winter months but it was recorded at Parque Natural de Bahia de Cadiz on 09/02/2024. Very few of the Icelandic Black-tailed Godwit population make it that far south so this one is particularly interesting.

Oystercatcher

Oystercatcher RR-W(XE) - Top when it was ringed in June 2021 in southern Iceland (© Boddi)
 and bottom at Thurstaston, in February 2024 © Richard Smith
When I saw it I thought the rings on the left leg were orange, but they are actually faded red and you can see how bright red
they were in 2021. It's unusual for colour rings to fade but it does sometimes happen.

RR-W(XE)
Ringed at Selfoss, S Iceland in June 2021.
Recorded during the breeding season at the ringing location in 2022 and 2023.
Seen at Thurstaston on 07/02/2024.

This is what Boddi, the ringer, had to say: "This bird had a new mate this year. His nest were predated by arctic fox. I had a camera at the nest and if I remember correctly then the fox came same time when chicks were hatching. This summer we had a high predation in South Iceland, mostly by arctic fox."

Dunlin

White flag (L31) at Hoylake, February 2024 © Tony Ormond

White flag (L31)
Ringed at Gdansk, Poland, on 13/07/2020.
Recorded at Hoylake on 10/02/2024.

The Polish Ringing Group have ringed many thousands of Dunlins over the years, this is the 19th we've recorded here on the Dee Estuary and north Wirral.

Knots

Oflag 46C at Meols, February 15th 2024 © Richard Smith


Fifteen Knots were caught and fitted with orange flags at Hoylake on 11/02/2024. Subsequently two of these were seen at Meols (including 46C above) and two on Crosby Beach.


Colour Rings were recorded by Richard Smith, Stephen Hinde, Tony Ormond, Richard du Feu, Steve Williams, Alan Hitchmough (Merseyside Ringing Group), Alex Jones, Kieran Carroll and David Thompson.

Richard Smith

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February Bird News


Waxwing on Halkyn Mountain, February 24th © Ken Lewis

It was certainly a good Waxwing winter. Over 180 were at Halkyn Mountain early in the month with around 40 at the month-end.

The predicted spring tides from the 11th to the 14th produced some big tides which covered the marsh right up to Burton Marsh.


Redshanks on Heswall Marsh during the spring high tide, February 12th © Frank Burnsit


During these very high tides there was the usual spectacular numbers of wildfowl and waders, these included two European White-fronted Geese as well as many thousands of Pink-footed Geese. Short-eared Owls were disappointingly absent from Heswall and Parkgate marshes but three were around the Decca Pools on the 12th, and six were on Burton Marsh on the 16th, with one or two around the Denhall Quay/Decca Pools area most days since.

It was good to see plenty of Hen Harriers through the month and these included four grey males on the outer Burton Marsh on the 1st, later there were records of at least two ringtails, so six is a decent total. Lots of Marsh Harriers also, with a max count of at least eleven on the 1st.

Great White Egret and Hen Harrier, Denhall Quay, February 13th © John Hewitt


Wader numbers have been relatively low this winter but it was good to see 520 Bar-tailed Godwits and 11,000 Dunlins at Hoylake on the 9th. 2,500 Black-tailed Godwits were at Burton Mere Wetlands towards the end of the month.

Bar-tailed Godwits at Hoylake, February 9th © Richard Smith


The first Avocet arrived back at Burton Mere Wetlands on the 11th, and I counted 43 there on the 26th. Two Bitterns were recorded there on several dates, hopefully they'll stay to breed.

Out to sea there were three Long-tailed Ducks off Hoylake on the 7th and 12 Little Gulls off Leasowe Gunsite on the 28th, on the latter date there were large numbers of Common Scoters off Hoylake roughly estimated at 10,000 with around 500 Great Crested Grebes also.

A flock of at least 25 Twites were frequently seen on Flint Marsh and six Snow Buntings were on the beach at Point of Ayr.

Avocets at Burton Mere Wetlands, February 26th © Richard Smith

Many thanks go to Steve Williams, Steve Hinde, Alan Hitchmough, Richard Whitby, Bruce Atherton, David Leeming, Steve Round, David Thompson, Sean O'Hara, Jane Turner, Graham Connolly, Frank Burns, Mark Woodhead, Paul Vautrinot, David Small, Mark Gibson, Tony Ormond, Derek Bates, Steve Hart, Jeremy Bradshaw, Paul Mason, Dave Harrington, Dave Edwards, Chris Wilding, Ken Mullins, Mike Cooper, Jeff Cohen, Richard Lowry, Steve Hassell, John Hewitt, Roy Wilson, Dave Ball, Bruce Hogan, Rob Devenish, Ken Lewis, Richard du Feu, Alex Jones, Kieran Carroll, Geoff robinson, Mickey Schroder, Andy Bennett, Ian Howarth, Richard Payne, Chris Matltby, Alan Conlin, Jean Bishop, Tom Moulsdale, Kevin Walton, Ian Fraser, Bill Benbow, Tony Childs, Paul McDonnel, Sasha Quentin, Ed Wilson. Peter McCann, Jack Murphy, Kelvon Britton, Chris Shaw, Nigel Bass, the Dee Estuary Wardens and the Hilbre Bird Observatory for their sightings during February. All sightings are gratefully received.

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What to expect in March

March sees the return of spring and the return of the spring migrants. Below is the table for 2023 (and the previous two years) showing the first sightings for a selection of species. If you see an early migrant please email and, if it's a first, I'll put it in the 2024 table.

Species 2023 Location 2022 2021
Sand Martin 15th March
Gronant 11th March 5th March
Wheatear 17th March
Burton/Little Eye 9th March
28th Feb
White Wagtail
17th March Leasowe 12th March
16th March
Swallow 24th March Leasowe 15th March 18th March
Willow Warbler
25th March
Burton 29th March
23rd March
House Martin
April 1st
Burton
23rd March 27th March
Swift April 5th
Greenfield
28th April 16th April
Whitethroat April 10th
Decca Pools
10th April 10th April
Cuckoo April 24th Leasowe
21st April 24th April

There is another set of big high tides from the 10th to the 14th. The one on the 12th, at 10.3m (Liverpool) is predicted to be the biggest tide of the year which can be seen in daylight hours - that should be interesting if it coincides with a tidal surge! There will still be lots of over-wintering birds about.

As well as the species listed above we can expect to see our first Ring Ouzels, Sandwich Terns, Little Gulls and Ospreys. Always an exciting time specially if we get some mild weather and southerly winds towards the end of the month. We usually see a strong passage of Stonechats along North Wirral, last year was exceptional. Rarities are to be expected - last year we had an influx of Alpine Swifts as well as a Lapland Bunting and Long-billed Dowitcher.

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Forthcoming Events

March Highest Spring Tides (Liverpool)

Also see Tides page

10th March, 11.02hrs (GMT), 9.9m.
11th March, 11.45hrs (GMT), 10.2m.
12th March, 12.27hrs (GMT), 10.3m.
13th March, 13.08hrs (GMT), 10.2m.
14th March, 13.49hrs (GMT), 9.8m.

Forthcoming Events


Also see events at https://events.rspb.org.uk/deeestuary