Voluntary Wardening at Gronant

The most obvious sight and sound, however, is the colony of 80 pair or so of Little Terns nesting on the shingle ridges between you and the sea. There is constant movement as birds go out fishing to bring back a continuous supply of sand eels for the waiting young.

The screeching of the birds is somehow very restful and you are tempted to nod off. Suddenly the noise takes on a different note as the whole colony takes flight. It's that f-ing Kestrel again looking for a breakfast of Little Tern egg and for the third time in an hour you have to rush out in to the colony shouting and bawling, waving your arms and looking like a complete idiot  - just thankful it is too early for any holidaymakers to be about - yes, this is Gronant!

Gronant really is a great place to be birdwatching in the summer and we need voluntary wardens to help protect the Little Terns from marauding crows and kestrels, and the occasional thoughtless holidaymaker. Just half a day a month between May and August would be a great help, more would be even better. E-mail me or ring the local RSPB on 0151 336 7681 for more information. See the August 2001 newsletter to read about the recent history of this colony.

Bird Counts

Inner Marsh Farm  Count for 16th May.
400+ Black-tailed Godwit, 13 Dunlin, 30 Knot, 2 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Temminck's Stint, 2 Redshank, 2 Little Grebe, 1 Little Egret, 1 Garganey, 4 Gadwall, 4 Shoveler, 90 Tufted Duck, 5 Reed Bunting, 4 Whitethroat. 
Please note that the count from Inner Marsh Farm is an informal estimate of species and numbers present, either carried out by myself or other birdwatchers visiting the hide. It is not meant to be a complete count and is not in anyway part of the Wetland Bird Survey or other count which might be carried out by the RSPB.
 

The spring migration was still in full swing at the beginning of the month with the highlight being 20 Yellow Wagtail, 70 White Wagtail and 47 Wheatear all in the Shotwick/Shotton rifle Range area. 5 Grasshopper Warblers was an excellent record for Hoylake Langfields.  
The two Avocets which turned up at Inner Marsh Farm last month stayed until the 9th. May be they have gone on to the marshes at the head of the estuary to breed, hiding in one of the many creeks, or they could be immature birds and moved on. One of two pairs at Leighton Moss have had chicks again so may be we will be lucky next year.

We had an exciting four days at Inner Marsh Farm in the middle of the month with 2 Spoonbills, a Temminck's Stint,  Great White Egret, Hen Harrier and a Gull-billed Tern all turning up in a four day period. That's in addition to the early summer flock of 450 Black-tailed Godwits, probably the largest in the country.

Strong south west/west winds towards the end of the month meant sea watching was very much a fruitful activity. There must have been several hundred Gannets in Liverpool Bay for several days as well as many Manx Shearwaters, Kittiwakes etc.

Nigel Blake

 The nearest large Gannetry is on the island of Grassholm in south Wales, well over one hundred miles away but as they are known to travel up to four hundred miles from their breeding sites ⁽¹⁾ then it is not all that surprising to see them here. But many will be immature birds, Gannets don't breed until their fifth year. A bird which doesn't stray far from their breeding grounds is the Puffin so it is quite a rarity off the estuary and single birds seen on two separate days was a good record - the nearest colony is Anglesey fifty miles away. 

The Hilbre Bird Observatory have just brought out a Checklist of the Birds of Hilbre.

Sadly I have just heard of the death of Eric Hardy, aged 90. He has been a leading naturalist on Merseyside since before the Second World War. He started writing his weekly nature article for the Liverpool Daily Post in 1930 inspiring many generations of budding naturalists. He founded the Merseyside Naturalists' Association and wrote many publications including The Birds of the Liverpool Area (1941) and Bird-Watching on Cheshire (1988) - both books are truly in depth guides to both the birds and sites of these areas, making some modern guides looking very light weight!     

Like the end of May any west winds should give good views of Gannets, Manx Shearwaters and other sea birds. Both Common and Little Terns breed locally - one of the best places to see Common Terns is off Greenfield Dock at low tide where they concentrate to feed. A visit to Gronant to see the Little Terns is always rewarding - I love going to Gronant. Despite being only a few hundred metres from a huge caravan park the beach and dunes appear so wild and isolated, it always reminds me of some forgotten Hebridean Island.  

Many thanks go to John Kirkland, Harry Davies, Ian Mara, Iain Douglas, John Billingoton, Mark Smith, Jean 'the dog walker', Cathy McGrath, Stephen Williams, Alan Chapman,  Dorothy Jebb,  Mike Hart,  John Campbell, Steve Williams, Mark Feltham,  Chris Butterworth,  David Esther, Martyn Jaimeson  and Jane Turner for their sightings during May. All sightings are gratefully received.

1. Handbook of the Birds of the Western Paleartic, 1983.