The Leach's Petrel Wreck

Richard Smith

On December 8th 1886 a Leach's Petrel was picked up near Northgate Station, Chester, another one was found in Ellesmere Port on December 16th 1907. Very interesting, you might say, but what has that got to do with the present day? Well, after trawling through Coward, Hardy, Hedley Bell and the Cheshire and Wirral Bird Reports these are the only December records for Cheshire and Wirral I could find prior to December 2006. This puts in to perspective just how remarkable the events of last month have been, which I will now relay.

The story begins on Nov 17th when the wind started to increase from the south-west, blowing between Force 6 and 8 until about 0700hrs on Nov 21st. The only Leach's Petrel recorded in the country during this period was one inland over Westwood Pool, Worcs, on the 19th. At 0700hrs on Nov 21st the wind swung from the SW quadrant to NW and within a few hours seven flew past Hilbre Island. Again these were the only ones recorded in the country on that day. It would seem that after four days of strong SW winds the birds had been blown up in to the Irish Sea through the St George's Channel from their wintering grounds way to the south. It was not until the wind swung round to NW that they were then blown in towards Hilbre Island. During the next 10 days the wind was relatively moderate, but on Dec 2nd an intense low pressure system steamed in from the south west, passing up the Irish Sea early on the 3rd, bringing with it Force 9 winds, a severe gale. Leach's Petrels were seen from virtually first light on the 3rd from south-west facing coasts in England and Wales. Ten went past Criccieth (near Porthmadog) by late morning and 12 went past Treaddur Bay on Anglesey in just one hour around mid-day. Further south ones and twos were being observed along the south coasts of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and South Wales. A lot of birds were being blown in to the Severn Estuary and one reached right up the river beyond Slimbridge by mid-afternoon. Further north birds were being blown in to Morecambe Bay and two got as far as the north coast of the Solway Firth. Winds must have been fierce out in the Atlantic for several days for so many birds to appear so soon after gale force winds reached here.

On Dec 3rd birds were blown on to south-west facing coasts as shown on the map. It wasn't until Dec 8th and 9th that birds were blown in towards Wirral and the Dee Estuary by north-west winds.

Leach's Petrel off north Wirral -  Steve Round ©

Although the wind moderated slightly to 'only' Force 6 to 8 over the next four days Leach's Petrels continued to be seen in the same south-west facing coasts as the 3rd, but in increasing numbers. Peak counts included over 45 off Jenny Brown's Point in Morecambe Bay (4th), 36 past Sharpness in the Severn Estuary (4th), over 50 past Chesil Cove, Dorset (5th), 100 at Black Rock Sands near Porthmadog (5th) with 136 at nearby Borth-y-Gest on 7th and 132 past Porthcawl, South Wales (7th). Birds reached as far north as Loch Fyne in Scotland and as far east as Canvey Island in Essex, with many also turning up over various inland reservoirs. By the end of Dec 7th we birders who do our birdwatching from North Wirral, Hilbre Island and Point of Ayr, traditionally the best sites in the country to see Leach's Petrels, were beginning to despair of seeing anything of this remarkable influx. But at 4am on the 8th the wind swung round to the north-west. The wind had eased down to force 5 but it was enough to bring the birds in with about five observed passing along the North Wirral coast and 20 past Hilbre during the day. Elsewhere there were 155 past Hartland Point, north Devon, as birds which had been trapped by the south-westerlies in the Severn Estuary streamed out of the Bristol Channel. Luckily for us the wind increased back up to Force 6 overnight and we were rewarded with good numbers the next day (9th). At least 70-80 flew west along the North Wirral coast and 190 were seen from Crosby Beach, thus restoring Merseyside's reputation as the prime spot in the country for Leach's Petrels! (190 was the single highest count reported during the whole influx but it is possible that numbers at some locations were underestimated as trying to perform accurate counts over several hours in gale force winds is near on impossible!).

On Dec 10th the wind went round to the south-west again and remained strong (Force 6 to 8) for the next six days, but despite this numbers of Leach's Petrels observed dropped right off with the only double figure count being 15 off Workington on the 11th. Most records were of one or two in the northern half of the Irish Sea although the most northerly record was one off the Outer Hebrides on the 11th. The last record of this remarkable influx was a single bird off Heysham Harbour on the 15th.

It has been estimated that 2,000 birds were involved in total, making it bigger than the "wreck" of December 1989 but not yet on the same scale as the "wreck" of late Oct/early Nov, 1952, which apparently involved more than 7,000 birds. The 1989 "wreck" involved relatively small numbers of birds but the one in 1952 is still remembered here when hundreds of birds were washed up dead along the Wirral coast. Elsewhere in the country winter Leach's Petrels do turn up from time to time after south-west gales but numbers are usually very small, four blown in to the coast near Porthmadog area in February 2002 is a typical example (larger numbers were seen further south). Much larger numbers may be seen off North Wirral, Hilbre Island and Point of Ayr from late August to early October when birds are on passage from their breeding grounds. Numbers vary greatly from year to year with some years producing less than ten birds in total whereas in other years a hundred or more can be seen in a day, but always during strong north-west winds which blow the birds in off the Atlantic and through the North Channel in to the Irish Sea. What was so unusual about both the small influx in November and the much larger one in December was that birds were blown in by a south-west gale from their wintering grounds to the south.

Although called a "wreck" the number of dead birds involved in December's influx wasn't large compared with some previous "wrecks". Undoubtedly some birds were under weight and many were reported as being in moult, but the wind was probably not blowing strong enough for long enough to cause wholesale deaths. Judging by the number of birds seen making their way south on the 8th and 9th hopefully many will have made their way safely back to their more usual wintering areas.

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