The Wetland Bird Survey 1999-2000

The Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) 1999-2000 report has just been published (available from www.nhbs.com). This contains counts of Wildfowl and Waders from throughout the country, including the Dee Estuary. It enables us to see how well the different species are doing nationally, how they are distributing themselves across the country, and how the birds here on the Dee Estuary are doing compared with other estuaries.

The report gives tables showing peak counts of each species at every location where significant numbers occur, both for 1999/2000 and the previous four years. It has to be said that 1999/2000 wasn't the best of years for peak numbers on the Dee Estuary! Total numbers of waterfowl fell under one hundred thousand for the first time since 1993/94 with 91,859. The graph below shows how this total number has changed over the past seven years.

So why have the numbers fallen steadily since 1996/97? Surprisingly perhaps, the answer is quite simple - a large drop in numbers of two of the most numerous species, Oystercatcher (decreased by 12,391) and Knot (decreased by 49,693).   The decrease in Oystercatchers has been a local phenomenon (no decrease nationally) and most likely due to poor cockle yields. Cockle yields have improved over the last year (2000/2001) on the English side of the estuary with a corresponding increase in Oystercatchers but apparently not yet on the Welsh side ⁽¹⁾. Knot have decreased nationally although not as much as on the Dee. One possible cause is the recent run of mild winters which means we have not been getting large cold weather movements from mainland Europe. Even so large numbers of Knot are observed on the Dee from time to time, but mainly at low tide. Most Knot seem to roost at high tide outside the estuary, such as on the Alt ⁽²⁾. They are very variable in number, numbers changing dramatically on a daily basis as they move from estuary to  estuary, so sometimes it is just a matter of luck if a WeBS count day coincides with a large influx. 

Even with the relative low count in 1999/2000 the Dee Estuary is still one of the most important sites in the country for waterfowl, having the tenth highest number. Twelve species were present in Internationally important numbers, even the Wash with three times as many individual birds only has thirteen species in such numbers. 

The second highest count of Shelduck (8,814) was on the Dee, the highest count now being on the nearby Mersey in August during their moult. It was a poor year for Pintail with only the 5th highest count (2,356), for at least the ten previous years the Dee had the highest numbers in the country. Counts of Pintail at low water and at high tide on non-WeBS count days have given much larger numbers of Pintail (ca. 5,000) ⁽³⁾. Numbers of Black-tailed Godwit (2,543) have been increasing for a number of years and we now have the second highest count in the country, the Ribble Estuary just piping us by 53 birds. The Dee has always been a major haunt of Redshank and we had the third highest count with 4,792. Numbers of Redshank on passage were higher with 6,411 in September. 

WeBS data were supplied by the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS), a joint scheme of the British Trust for Ornithology, The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Joint Nature Conservation Committee (the last on behalf of the Countryside Council for Wales, Department of the Environment Northern Island, English Nature and Scottish Natural Heritage).

References
1. Neil Friswell and Colin E. Wells, Dee Estuary WeBS Annual Report, 2000/2001.
2. Mark Pollit et.al., The Wetland Bird Survey 1998-1999, BTO/WWT/RSPB/JNCC.
3. Neil Friswell and Colin E. Wells, Dee Estuary WeBS Annual Report, 1999/2000.

Bird Counts

Count from Hoylake Sea Front on 28th October produced a remarkable 75 species, here is a sample:
3 Red-throated Diver, 1 Great Northern Diver, 1 Long-tailed Duck, 436 Common Scoter, 1 Velvet Scoter, 75 Sanderling, 1 Yellow-legged Gull, 3 Gannet,  85 Cormorant, 1 Brent Goose, 2 Scaup, 1 Merlin, 2 Peregrine Falcon, 35 Razorbill, 3 Puffin, 5,000 Guillemot, 660 Fieldfare, 195 Redwing, 2 Tree Sparrow, 264 Skylark, 8 Grey Wagtail, 6 Lesser Redpoll and 1 Corn Bunting.

Wetland Bird Survey Count for Heswall Shore - (Kindly provided by the Wirral Ranger Service). 7th October. 
64 Cormorant, 2 Grey Heron, 8,470 Shelduck, 74 Teal, 39 Mallard, 5 Pintail, 870 Oystercatcher, 169 Lapwing, 330 Knot, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 33 Dunlin, 3 Black-tailed Godwit, 2080 Curlew, 1 Spotted Redshank, 5,050 Redshank, 2 Greenshank, 560 Common Gull, 57 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 444 Herring Gull and 21 Great Black-backed Gull.

Wetland Bird Survey Count for Flint and Connah's Quay (Kindly provided by the Deeside Naturalist's Society). 7th October. 
8 Little Egret, 590 Teal, 110 Mallard, 1870 Oystercatcher, 2 Grey Plover, 1,550 Dunlin, 2,250 Black tailed Godwit, 3 Spotted Redshank, 1,360 Redshank, 17 Greenshank, 1 Curlew Sandpiper, 2 Peregrine Falcon, 1  Merlin, 1Common Buzzard and 1 Kingfisher.

Max Wildfowl counts from Inner Marsh Farm during October plus a selection of other interesting sightings.
215 Shoveler (record for reserve), 1,750 Teal and 380 Wigeon. Hen Harrier, Goosander, Mediterranean Gull, Spotted Crake, Great White Egret, Little Stints and Curlew Sandpipers - last two species present for most of the month. 
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.

A good month for rare American gulls. The best of the bunch must be the American Herring Gull at Hoylake, there have only been thirty five or so records in total for this country. This was closely followed by a Ring-billed Gull, also at Hoylake, but this isn't as rare as the Laughing Gull seen earlier in the month at West Kirby, only the fifth record for Wirral/ Cheshire.

Although we couldn't quite reach last year's record Shelduck count of 9,620 at Heswall we still managed a very respectable 8,470. Shoveler numbers continue to increase on the estuary and there was a reserve record of 215 at Inner Marsh Farm. Four thousand Pintail loitered off Flint and very good numbers of Wigeon were off Parkgate during the spring high tides, at least 2,000. On the subject of Parkgate we had a fabulous day on the 18th when the tide roared right up to the sea wall with the resulting good views of Water Rail and Short-eared Owls as well as the spectacle of various birds of prey and thousands of waders and duck. It was a shame that far more people turned up on the previous day which wasn't nearly as good!  Other wildfowl observed included 21 Eider at Point of Ayr, a very high number for the Dee where we normally only get the visiting odd one or two. They appeared to be a mixture of adult females and this year's young.   

October 28th was a bright sunny day with a fresh north-west wind after several days of southerlies. This switch round of the wind resulted in a large movement of birds along the North Wirral coast, both on land and off shore. At the end of the day 75 species had been seen from just one sea-front garden at Hoylake (no prizes for guessing whose!). A Velvet Scoter was the bird of the day but see list above for more details. 

Denhall Quay made an excellent vantage spot to see the Great White Egret, up to 15 Little Egrets, 4 Short-eared Owls and a ring-tail Hen Harrier. Someone was lucky enough to see a flock of ten Little Egrets flying to roost, a real thrill considering how rare these birds were only a few years ago. 

Water Pipits seem especially attracted to the stream at Neston Old Quay where we might get six or more. This location, and nearby Denhall Quay, are excellent places to observe the bird life on the marsh, including Little Egrets, Short-eared Owls, a Hen Harrier or two, and if it is still around, the Great White Egret. 

Many thanks go to Tony Bell, Iain Douglas, Margaret Twemlow, John Gittins, Brian Grey, Colin Wells, Jeff Clarke, Chris Butterworth, Bill Owens, Mark Feltham, Julian Weldrick, Neil Fletcher, James Lowther, Andy Mabbet, Andy Thomas, T. Morton, Wendy Allen, David Ester, Dave Harrington, Martyn Jaimeson, Carl Clee,  Colin Jones, John Kirkland, Jane Turner, Brian Roberts and the Dee Estuary Voluntary Wardens for their sightings during October. I rely on the goodwill of people like this, unlike some commercial sites I cannot offer financial inducements!

November Highest Spring Tides (Liverpool) 
15th November, 10.59hrs 9.8m. (all times GMT)
16th November, 11.40hrs, 9.8m.
See Tides page for full tide table.

Note that the marsh at Parkgate may be covered when tide height is 9.8m or over, dependent on weather conditions. Low pressure with strong north-west wind will create higher than expected tide, high pressure with southerly wind means lower than expected tide.