Wirral - 18 Sep 20

Today I made another visit to The Wirral to look at waders and gulls on the high Spring tide.

This time I started at New Brighton at the mouth of the River Mersey. Behind the shopping centre is a pool with a pontoon used by birds at high tide. Six Redshanks in with a group of very blotchy-looking Turnstones.

There were several hundred Turnstones. The local web site guide notes that in Winter these are sometimes joined by Purple Sandpipers. Not today.

The groyne separating the 'beach' at New Brighton from the river was being used as a pre-roost gathering by Herring Gulls – yes: all this variety of plumages can be seen on Herring Gulls. On the lower right is an interloper – a lone Oystercatcher.

Did someone say Herring Gulls? There are a scatter of Oystercatchers with them – I can see eleven. If you look hard at the top middle there is also a Curlew...

...enlarged as much as I dare to prove the point.

Next photo stop was at Heswall again where there were fewer waders but some species giving better views. Sadly there doesn't seem to be a collective noun for a group of Knots for this is what these are. These birds are properly Red Knot (to separate them from another species - the Great Knot). Only when in breeding plumage are they red. There is a hint of a red wash remaining on the front middle bird. The groups of many thousand that are seem overwintering at favoured spots in the UK are grey.

Here are three more with a Black-headed Gull behind for size comparison.

There are ten Knots here if you look hard. Two with some red wash. You could count the legs and divide by two, but several are standing on one leg! On the extreme right foreground is a smaller Dunlin. These too are grey in Winter plumage.

A closer view of five of the Knot with a Dunlin behind. This Dunlin still has some dark on the belly from the breeding plumage and is much browner than it will be when it completes its moult.

A trio of waders in the far distance here. At the back are six Curlew. In front of them about 20 Knot. Closest are Dunlin – I make it 12? Under the fourth from the left Curlew is a very pale wader – a Sanderling.

Two weeks ago there were throngs of Ringed Plover (that's not a formal collective noun either). This visit just one or two. It is the wrong habitat to find the smaller Little Ringed Plover. That would show orange on the bill, a yellow eye-ring and duller pinkish legs. Relying on leg colour can be difficult on a muddy shoreline.

A size comparison. A Dunlin in front of a Black-headed Gull.

A side-elevation of a Sanderling showing a few new grey winter plumage feathers. The bill is very obviously a 'black' black (unless covered in mud).

Another size comparison. A Sanderling is dwarfed by two Common Gulls – and these are not large gulls.

While on the subject of Common Gulls here is a winter plumage adult. The dark mark across the greenish-yellow bill is less distinct in winter. The legs too are greenish – never pink or yellow.

As it turns its head the bolder 'necklace' of spotting is obvious. In summer the head and neck are pure white.

Lower centre is a Common Gull in flight. Even though this birds is still moulting the outer primaries is shows a feature that I use to pick adults of this species out in flight – the black and white wing-tip pattern is the same on the upper and lower surfaces unlike all other gulls in the UK. There are two others in different states of wing moult partially hidden above and behind. Immediately above is a big brute of a Herring Gull well in to winter plumage with much head streaking. Three Black-headed Gulls complete the foreground.

Herring Gulls anyone. Look carefully and there are two Great Black-backed Gulls here. One is slightly right of and above centre with its legs hanging down. The other is second from the left at the bottom showing obvious pink legs. Even female Great Black-backs are bigger then any Herring Gull and have a lumbering flight. Apart from a faint grey wash on the heads of juveniles this species has a white head at all ages and all times of the year.

(Ed Wilson)

Wirral - 3 Sep 20

Today I made a visit to the sea-front at Hoylake on the Wirral. A diorama there describes "Wirral's Wonderful Waders" with illustrations of the most frequently encountered species.

On Spring high tides at appropriate times of the year the incoming sea congregates the waders reasonably close to the sea-front. If the tide is too high the birds will move away to various high-tide roosts. I arrived about 90 minutes before high tide which on this day was two days away from the bi-monthly highest tide.

There is plenty of parking along the front – at least during weekdays when schools are in session.

For this visit almost all birds stayed some way away and a telescope was needed to find the more unusual species. Some photos, judiciously edited, show some of the highlights.

A typical flock of waders with Ringed Plover dominating. Top on the left and lower slightly to the right are two Dunlin, the second most frequently seen on the muddy / sandy foreshore.

Some quite sizeable groups. Same two species.

This group is differently angled to show the underside. When in breeding plumage Dunlin show a dark belly. The two at the top without dark bellies could be juveniles or adults further ahead in their moult in to winter plumage.

Typical head down frantic feeding by a quartet of Dunlin.

Here we see (just) almost at the extreme right a paler bird. This is a Sanderling. In the centre are eight Dunlin. This species can vary considerably in size and in the length of the bill.

Here we round up what we have seen. Left to right Sanderling, Dunlin and Ringed Plover. Note the Sanderlings jet-black bill and dark shoulder-patch.

In this group is a much-wanted Curlew Sandpiper. The bird in the bottom centre shows an all-white rump unlike the central band on the other species.

Note "By coincidence this video HERE, must have been taken through a telescope of one of the other birders standing almost alongside me and follows two Curlew Sandpipers as they frantically feed. Longer, slightly more decurved bill than a Dunlin and cleaner-looking underparts

And another much-wanted species and the smallest wader present. In the front is a Little Stint. Note the thin bill and the pale belly. Leg colour (black here) separates from the rare Temminck's Stint.

A surprising fly-by: a trio of Shelduck.

Further away were a few(!) Oystercatchers, here put to flight. The few gulls are made of sterner stuff – four Great Black-backed Gulls with two Herring Gulls between them. One of the wind turbines in the distance. There were Bar-tailed Godwits and Knots standing with the Oystercatchers but I cannot locate any in the photo.

Did I see gulls? All these are Herring Gulls, one calling loudly – the sound of the sea-side. A few immatures with dark extending further along the wings.

And here Herring Gulls at rest. More brown immatures.

A close-passing gull. The bill struck me as rather large and I wondered about a juvenile Great Black-backed Gull. However the head of this species at all ages is obviously white and the paler inner primaries would be more restricted. So this has to be a large male juvenile Herring Gull.

This collection of gulls shows a few adult Great Black-backed Gulls with one passing and showing extensive wing-moult with the outer four primaries still to be dropped and the regrowing secondary coverts showing the white bases to the secondaries. The rest are Herring Gulls. I am not sure why the bird at the top right looks slightly darker on the mantle. It is an immature bird with dark on the bill but that does not seem to explain it away.

The only Lesser Black-backed Gull I noted is this standing adult even showing yellow legs. The very dark juvenile flying past is a juvenile Herring Gull.

Another closer passing gulls. This is a Common Gull with a slightly darker mantle, more white in the wing-tip and a rather weak bill with a band across it. In winter it acquires this head-spotting which often looks like a necklace.

On the distant sea line there was a large group of terns also put to flight. All but one are Sandwich Terns. The few darker individuals are juveniles. The smaller bird on the top right is likely a Common Tern – separation from Arctic Tern is not possible at this range."

(Ed Wilson)

Belvide Reservoir - 6 Sep 20

I paid a quick trip to the West Midlands Bird Club members only site at Belvide Reservoir today.

In the aftermath of the Whaley Bridge dam collapse the owners of Belvide, The Canal and River Trust, have lowered the water-level to allow for a full inspection of their dam. As a result the 'shore' is much further away than usual as is reflected in some of these photos.

How is this for size-comparison? In front of the adult winter Black-headed Gull stands a juvenile Black Tern. At this age can be separated from the similar and very uncommon White-winged Black Tern by the black smudge at the side of the breast.

And now someone else gets in on the action – one of a group of six Dunlin has wandered in to view.

A wader fast-disappearing. Unusually this Greenshank did not emit its diagnostic call so I had to fall-back on visual clues – well just clue really. The white tail with the white extending way up the back of the body is sufficient. Note the long narrow wings, somewhat accentuated by its rapid departure.

As it swings around the bill is just about visible. Rather long but not excessively so, with just a hint of an upward curve.

A splendid female Southern Hawker dragonfly (Aeshna cyanea). The final segments of the abdomen of this species are banded. On other hawkers they are spotted.

(Ed Wilson)