Dee Estuary Birding
Monthly Newsletter...
January 2025
Newsletter
Twenty-four Years ago
Having lived in our current house for 24 years Viv and I were having a
bit of a pre-Christmas clearout last month. Underneath a load of old Dee
Estuary Voluntary Wardens leaflets and wader count forms I came across
a copy of the Dee Estuary WeBS Annual Report for 1999/2000. Quickly
looking through it I was intrigued when I realised it was the first
ever such report written (by Neil Friswell and edited by Colin Wells).
It was fascinating reading it because there have been some dramatic
changes to the estuary's birds over those 24 years, and reading the
report really brought that home. So I thought, using extracts from the
1999/2000 Report and comparing them with what is written in the the
current 2023/2024 Report, it would be of interest to choose 12 species
and show how their fortunes have changed.
Note that words in italics are direct quotes from
the reports, otherwise they are my own comments.
Little Egret
1999/2000: Now regularly recorded in all months of the year.... Maximum count 5 in September.
2023/2024: Peak count was 399 in September and
there were 88 nests in Marsh Covert. ...
a count of 620 in August 2024 suggests another surge in numbers...!
Bewick's Swan
1999/2000: Peak count was 56 in January. But the
highest ever WeBS count on the Dee Estuary was made the following
winter when there were 118 present.
2023/2024: None were recorded again in this year's WeBS.
Whooper Swan
1999/2000: As
usual a few birds wintered on the Estuary with the maximum count of 8
occuring in January.
2023/2024: ... a peak of only 31 in January. Although current numbers are much higher than 24 years ago they actually peaked in Feb 2011 with 86. The Report asks the question is there an issue with the Dee Estuary as all swan species are in sharp decline?
Pink-footed Goose
1999/2000: The maximum WeBS count was 66 on 23 January but higher counts were recorded, with up to 80 during late Jan to mid-February.
2023/2024: A record count this winter and the five year average continues steadily upwards.
That record count was 23,816 on Feb 11th 2024. Of all the species in
this article the increase in 'Pinkfeet' numbers has to be the most
spectacular. See the 'Pink-footed Geese' article in the October 2023
Dee Estuary Newsletter: http://www.deeestuary.co.uk/news1023.htm.
Light-bellied Brent Goose
1999/2000: This winter the highest count was 8 birds which is typical of recent years.
2023/2024: WeBS
counts this year were 482, 561, 475, 638, 624, 399, 358 in October,
November, December, January, February, March and April respectively.
These are record counts....
Wigeon
1999/2000: Peak count was 2751 in December, not untypical for the previous 10 years.
2023/2024: Another good peak count this year - the third highest over the last 38 years. The count was 8293 in November.
Shoveler
1999/2000: The highest WeBS count was 77 on 12 September.
2023/2024: Very high counts again this winter, particularly September to November with an astonsihing 426 in the latter month.
Goldeneye
1999/2000: ...maximum count 16 in January - slightly down on recent winters (eg 31 in January 1999).
2023/2024: Three records - one in December, one in January and two in February.
Goosander
1999/2000: Not mentioned in the report!
2023/2024: Peak count was 30 in November. Not mentioned in the report but there was a maximum of 36 on West Kirby Marine Lake in December (on a non-WeBS count day).
Oystercatcher
1999/2000: There has been a steady decline in Oystercatcher numbers since 1993/94. That winter marked a low point in Oystercatcher numbers with a maximum of just 14,889 in September - down from a typical count of 30,000 to 40,000 prior to 1994. This decline was almost certainly due to over-fishing of the cockle beds, and the large amount of disturbance caused by the cocklers.
2023/2024: Some good counts this winter. The maximum count was 27,448 in September. The highest count in recent years was 30,362 in January 2022. The recovery in numbers is due to the Dee Estuary Cockle Order brought in in 2008 to strictly control the cockling industry. Can we have a similar Cockle Order for north Wirral please??
Purple Sandpiper
1990/2000: Peak count was 45 in February.
2023/2024: Peak count was 20 in December.
Black-tailed Godwit
1990/2000: There has been a large increase in numbers since the late 1980's.... Peak count was 2543 in November.
2023/2024: A record count in August 2023..... Peak count was 10422.
The increase in Black-tailed Godwit numbers has been
well documented in this website - see the 'Black-tailed Godwits 2024'
article - http://www.deeestuary.co.uk/news1124.htm
References
1. Neil Friswell and Colin Wells, Dee Estuary WeBS Annual Report, 1999/2000.
2. Neil Friswell and Colin Wells, Dee Estuary and North Wirral Foreshore WeBS Annual Report, 2023/2024.
Also see the Wetland Bird Survey Annual Report section on the BTO website:
https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/wetland-bird-survey/publications/webs-annual-report
Richard Smith
Colour Ring Report
Curlew
BB-OBB
Ringed at Nordhorn Zoo (close to the Dutch border), Germany, on
12/06/2024.
Recorded on Hilbre on 03/08/2024, it has been seen on Hilbre several
times since until at least mid-November.
This was one of 30 juvenile Curlews released at
Nordhorn Zoo in 2024 as part of a headstarting program.
We had a few problems trying to find out where this
bird was ringed as the first photographs taken at some distance showed
just one blue ring on each leg, together with one orange ring on the
right, and no scheme matched. It wasn't until November that we managed
to get a couple of close up photos showing that there were, in fact,
two blue rings on each leg!
Knots
Oflag(23M)/G
This
one was ringed across the Mersey channel at Altcar in April 2023. Since
then it's sightings have been fairly typical being seen at Meols,
Thurstaston and West Kirby over here on the Dee Estuary/North Wirral,
and at Seaforth and Crosby on the Sefton Coast. The Knots stage at
Iceland on the way to breed in Canada and 23M was spotted on the west
coast in May this year.
From Nov 16th to 22nd it was at Meols every day. The
Knots move around the area continually so it's quite unusual to see the
same birds at the same site for more than a day or two - and we
certainly can't recall one staying for seven consecutive days. But what
really got
our attention was something else. We are used to seeing colour-ringed
Black-tailed Godwits at the 'godwit field' in Caldy in the same spot
day after day and even from year to year - but we've never seen a knot
doing the same thing. So we were amazed when we realised thar 23M was
in the exact same place within the roosting Knot flock for at least
four days, which was on the inside left edge of the flock - as
illustrated in the first photo above. The flock itself wasn't always in
the same place, sometimes close to the channel edge, sometimes further
on the sand bank and sometimes up by the boats. But 23M was still in
the same place within the flock each day!
Oflag(MXE)/G
Ringed at Ainsdale at 08/05/2024 as a 2CY bird.
Recorded roosting at Seaforth and feeding at Leasowe from June 16th to
July 8th. Like many of these 2CY Knot it then appears to have dispersed
away from the area for several months until Nov 20th when Richard Would
took this great photo at Thurstaston, it was then recorded at Meols
five days later.
Dutch
Ringed Knots
Although Knots are present in the Liverpool Bay area
all year, including imms in summer and moulting adults in April and
August, we always get an influx from the east over the winter -
probably at least doubling the number of birds here. The bar chart
above shows the accumulated records from the past five years for Knots
colour-ringed by the Dutch in the Waddensea (mostly in September) which
have subsequently been recorded on the Dee Estuary and North Wirral. It
shows how, almost exclusively, these Knots are seen on the Waddensea
from when they arrive back from breeding in July, and then leave,
virtually en-masse, during November when they arrive here. This autumn
has been typical with not a single Dutch ringed bird recorded until
November 4th since when we've seen a total of 14.
Y6RRRY
Ringed on the lonely island of Griend on the Waddensea in September
2020.
This one shows a typical 'dog-leg' migration. This year's movements are
typical: It was last seen here, at Thurstaston, on Feb 2nd. It then
must have flown east back to the Waddensea to undergo spring moult as
it was on the island of Ameland in early April. In mid-May it was
recorded on the west coast of Iceland on it's way to Canada to breed.
We know, from previous years, it will then have flown back to the
Waddensea after breeding (it was recorded on Griend in October 2023),
before flying west back to the Dee Estuary where it was recorded on Nov
12th at Thurstaston and Nov 16th at Meols.
'Photographic Guide
to
Colour-marked Red Knot' - download the PDF file by clicking here.
Colour Rings were recorded by Richard
Smith, Stephen
Hinde, Tony Ormond, Matt Thomas, Alan Hitchmough, Steve Williams, Sean
O'Hara, David Leeming and Richard Would.
Richard Smith
December Bird News
If you want to get fabulous close views of estuarine birds I can't think of anywhere better than Meols shore. November was particularly good with several thousand Knots often so close to the prom you could almost touch them! Shelducks are a bit more wary but, particularly early morning, we had several hundred giving great views. Then there were the usual Oystercatchers, Redshanks, Dunlins, Curlews...... Oh yes, and a Little Stint seen several times both at Meols and Hoylake. A regular Kingfisher, often perched on the edge of the channel just a few yards from the Dove Point car park, was an undoubted bonus.
A Barred Warbler was a nice find in a sea-front garden at Hoylake. It
was recorded on three days - 6th to 8th. We think this is the ninth
record for the Dee Estuary area, Including this one six are from North
Wirral, one from Burton Mere Wetlands and two from the Shotwick/Shotton
area.
High tide wader roosts through the month included 20,000 Dunlin at West Kirby on the 3rd and 7,000 Knot att Hoylake on the 15th. 1,475 Sanderling was an excellent count at Hoylake on the 19th. There were some very high counts of Common Scoters during a lot of calm weather through the month, incluing 12,000+ off Hoylake on the 28th.
On the marshes there have been both a ringtail and
grey male Hen Harrier, at least 10 Marsh Harriers have been seen flying
in to roost as have two Bitterns. There were 10 records of Short-eared
Owls through the month, including one giving good views at Brton Mere
Wetlands.
What to expect in January
Last January we were seeing a few hundred Waxwings on Halkyn mountain,
just to the west of the estuary, but sadly I don't think we'll be
seeing any this winter - although a late influx is not unheard of.
Out to sea we can expect the usual large Common
Scoter flock, probably several thousand strong, and e would expect to
see a few Velvet Scoters with them. Some winters we can also see
severaal hundred Great Crested Grebes out there, and may be a few
Long-tailed Ducks.
Both Goosanders and Red-breasted Mergansers are likely to be on West Kirby Marine Lake, hopefully also a few Goldeneye which are getting increasingly rare.
The large number of waders present in the estuary
this month should produce some spectacular high tide roosts,
Particularly at Point of Ayr, West Kirby and Hoylake. The highest tide
is on the last day of the month (see below) but, somewhat unusually,
there are five other dates where the tide will be high enough to bring
the waders close enough to get great views. Also look out also for good
numbers of waders
at low tide, with Meols and Thurstaston which should produce views of
massed
flocks.
January Highest
Tides:
2nd 11.24hrs (GMT) 9.4m
3rd 12.09hrs (GMT) 9.4m
15th 11.24hrs (GMT) 9.4m
16th 12.09hrs (GMT) 9.4m
30th 11.24hrs (GMT) 9.4m
31st 12.09hrs (GMT) 9.4m