The marsh at Parkgate from The Parade
On a beautiful late January morning, I headed to Parkgate on the Wirral for the high tide watch: the spring tide would be around the 10-metre mark at 1pm, although with the weather conditions (specifically, no wind) it would not reach the wall and make for the amazing spectacle that can take place during these events. However, it was a fantastic few hours’ birding anyway.
The Old Baths car park was already full half an hour before the RSPB were scheduled to start their High Tide Watch, so I parked along The Parade, which was fine because I was going to walk towards the reedbeds and Neston first and then join the throng watching from the Old Baths. There were plenty of people – birders and non-birders – along The Parade, but I soon left them behind as I followed the sandstone path round the back of a house and through the estate of very nice houses to the Neston footpath. It’s recommended not to use that path at present: it is completely boggy and almost impassable in places, and not a pleasant experience. I struggled through it on the homeward leg last time but was not going to try it today, after weeks of rain, snow and ice. After a few minutes spent chatting to a birder from North Wales who was going to observe the marshes from that spot, I turned towards the paved roads and enjoyed a pleasant walk to the very boggy fields at the far end. This is where I’d seen my first twite last November, and I was hoping for a repeat today, for the year list, but it wasn’t to be. I did encounter a friendly photographer, who put me on to the lesser redpoll feeding on the rosebay willowherb – so that was another life tick.
Lesser redpoll – image by sighmanb, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Fending off the friendly horses, I waded through their field to the marshes but all was quiet there, so I soon headed back to Parkgate. There were goldfinch, tits, redwing, house sparrows, and other passerines feeding along the route, which wouldn’t have been seen along the reedbed path. I spoke to the birder from North Wales again, who told me that a male hen harrier had appeared just after I left him – which was not encouraging news!
However, back along the front, a number of marsh harriers were cruising the marshes, one chasing a pink-footed goose, but without success. The pinkies were present in what seemed like thousands, and there were good numbers of lapwing and other species, too. There were even two greenshank next to one of the pools near The Parade. These birds breed in the high Arctic taiga and winter in western Africa. They are mostly seen in the UK in autumn when they are on passage, with only a few wintering here, so it was a treat to see them. Even more of a treat was seeing the male hen harrier, especially after another birder at the Old Baths said it had been showing very well just a few minutes earlier but had disappeared into the reeds to feed on whatever it had caught. Not again! So I waited and I waited, and then there it was, its grey body with black-tipped wings flying low over the reeds, coming quite close to where we were standing.
Male hen harrier – image by Isle of Man Government, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
It is such a privilege to be able to see hen harriers so close to Liverpool. They are in desperate need of protection in their breeding grounds, and I encourage everyone reading this to check out Hen Harrier Action on social media and their website (https://henharrierday.uk/) for ways in which to become involved with their protection and in spreading the message about these iconic raptors.
Species seen: bar-tailed godwit blackbird black-headed gulls blue tit Canada geese collared dove cormorants crow dunnock feral pigeon golden plover goldfinch great crested grebe GSW great tit great white egret greenshank hen harrier heron herring gull house sparrows jackdaw kestrel marsh harrier lapwing lesser redpoll little egret little grebe LTTs magpie mallard moorhen pinkies redwing reed bunting robin shelduck snipe song thrush starling teal woodpigeon wren