Trip reports

Field Trip to the Wirral

Saturday, 13 December 2008

We left Warrington in the rain but by the time we arrived at Leasowe it had stopped. The strong wing had brought the tide in early so we had to move down the coast to Hoylake. Here we had fabulous views of a mixed flock of waders that numbered 2 -3000 birds. There were Sanderling,Grey and Golden Plovers,Bar-tailed Godwits, Curlew and Dunlin.
From here we went to West Kirby Marine Lake to look for a Gt. Northern Diver. Unfortunately we could not locate it but we did see Red-breasted Mergansers, a single Turnstone and a flock of 60 plus Brent Geese.
Our next venue was the Decca Pools and Burton Marsh. We were lucky enough to see up to 6 Short-eared Owls and two Hen Harriers, a flock of Wigeon ans two Buzzards. Our last venue was inner Marsh Farm. In front of the hide was a large flock of Lapwing, several Redshanks, Snipe and Black-tailed Godwits. The highlight for us all was a beautiful male Green-winged Teal. On the feeders we saw Gt. Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch, Chaffinch and a Nuthatch.
In total 67 species were seen and it made a fitting end to our 2008 programme.