The Wirral: West Kirby and Hoylake

Sketch map of West Kirby, Red Rocks and Hoylake

The North Wirral Coast is very productive for birdwatching, has some excellent walking and is easily accessible by bus and train (the trains run every quarter of an hour). There are a few waders on the estuary all year round, the numbers increase enormously on passage and in Winter. At this time of year it's always useful to take a turn around the marine lake at West Kirby for sea ducks or even divers. The Red Rocks area is a good place to check out passage migration and do a bit of seawatching. Hoylake offers a big sandy beach popular with gulls, ringed plovers and white wagtails.

Hoylake beach looking towards the Dee Estuary

You can walk to Hilbre Bird Observatory from Red Rocks or West Kirby. Being an overly-cautious sort with one eye on the train timetables home I've never got any further than Middle Eye, the island before Hilbre so I don't cover it here.

West Kirby on the Dee Estuary is at the end of one of the Merseyrail lines. Cross the road from the station and go straight down Dee Lane and you'll get to the marine lake. There are generally a few gulls and a wader or two loafing round on the slipway if it's not in use by the sailing centre. The South Parade makes up one side of the lake and a retaining walkway takes you around the outside. Towards the southern end check out the rocks by the small concrete platform, this is a favoured roosting spot for redshanks and turnstones. Any sea ducks will tend to be at this end of the lake.

Scaup, West Kirby Marine Lake

Redshanks, West Kirby Marine Lake

Walking round the perimeter of the lake gives you a chance to check out both the lake and the Dee Estuary. Most of the waders near the lake will be dunlins and redshanks, black-tailed godwits and curlew will be further out. And there's always the chance of something else being out there if your luck's in. Brent geese winter off Hilbre, sometimes a few will come in to graze on the edge of the lake.

Light-bellied brent geese, West Kirby Marine Lake

Walking north from West Kirby to Red Rocks the paths run through a thin strip of sandy marsh. A high path runs alongside the golf course, if you're doing this walk in Summer look out for lizards basking on the boardwalk. There are a couple of lower-level paths running parallel to this that work better if you're not steady on your pins. Most of the passerines will be skylarks and meadow pipits, as you approach the reedbeds around the small pond you'll bump into a few reed buntings, in Summer you'll find reed and sedge warblers.

Walking from West Kirby to Red Rocks

In Spring and Autumn the trees and bushes along this stretch are always worth checking out for passage migrants.

Red Rocks

Red Rocks is a small outcrop of the local red sandstone. It's a good vantage point for a bit of seawatching on the turn of the tide.

From Red Rocks you can walk down to Hoylake's North Parade either along the beach or, if the tide's in, along Stanley Road then turning left and down King's Gap. This is the beginning of a long stretch of roads and paths that would eventually take you over to New Brighton. Look out for wagtails on the beach and by the golf course: pied wagtails are around all year round, in Spring they're joined by white wagtails on passage.

Ringed plovers, Hoylake.

Quickest way to Hoylake Station from the beach is to go down from King's Gap: the road takes you straight there.

Useful links:

• Hilbre Bird Observatory blog
• Dee Estuary Birding latest sightings

Hope Carr teaser

I've only recently started visiting Hope Carr Nature Reserve just outside Leigh. It's quite compact but also quite productive. Birds seen on today's visit included buzzard, peregrine and sparrowhawk, quite a few shovelers and bullfinches and a couple of willow tits. And, on the second attempt, I managed to see the Blyth's reed warbler that's been hanging round the brambles for the past week or so.

Blyth's reed warbler, Hope Carr NR

Blyth's reed warbler, Hope Carr NR

Blyth's reed warbler, Hope Carr NR

I'll provide a map and directions in a future post.

Hollingworth Lake

Sketch map of Hollingworth Lake

Hollingworth Lake is a small Pennine reservoir just outside Rochdale. It's popular both for walking and watersports and can be very busy on a sunny holiday afternoon. It can provide a couple of hours' decent birdwatching in the course of a pleasant stroll. There are enough pubs, cafés and chippies for you not to need to take a packed lunch with you.

Hollingworth Lake

The lake itself attracts good numbers of wildfowl — mostly mallards, mute swans and Canada geese — and gulls, mostly black-headed. They're joined by common terns in Summer. There's usually a few tufted ducks, every so often they'll be joined by goosander and once in a while a goldeneye or a common scoter may visit. And whenever there's a large number of ducks and gulls there's always the chance of something special.

Male common scoter

Getting to Hollingworth Lake is very straightforward so long as the trains are behaving themselves. 

• From Smithybridge Station walk south up Smithybridge Road over the canal and after about half a mile you'll reach the lake. This is much the quickest and most direct route.
• From Littleborough Station go under the subway and turn right down Canal Street, walk about a mile along Hollingworth Roaad and you reach the lake.
• The 458 bus goes from Littleborough Station to Hollingworth Lake. It then carries on to Rochdale via Wardle (if you have the time and energy you can stop off at Wardle for a walk round Watergrove Reservoir).

Common tern

Most of the gulls and ducks congregate around the car park. There are usually a few common gulls and lesser black-backs around. Last year a glaucous gull hung around for a couple of weeks enjoying more than its fair share of chips.

Glaucous gull

There's a path around the lake from the car park, eventually turning round to join Rakewood Road. A little further along there's a small road on the left going to the visitor centre. The little bit of woodland around the car park is worth checking out for the usual suspects. In Winter you'll probably find siskins amongst the finch flocks and you might find lesser redpolls. From here there are a couple of paths through open pasture land that will eventually take you into Littleborough.

Looking North from Rakewood Road

Returning back to the lake, a little bit further up Rakewood Road there's a small lane on the right. Go down here, passing the play area, this skirts the south bank of the lake. The lake is pretty much hidden by wet woodland for the first hundred yards or so. The path then loops round, keep an eye out on your right hand side here for the short path to the hide. This overlooks a shallow pool separated from the larger part of the lake by a thin spit. This can be a good area for waders.

A common sandpiper.
The unusually thick base to its bill was the result of its struggling with the hard, thick mud of the 2018 drought.

Grey wagtail

The trees thin out as you carry on down the lane to the café, giving you another chance to check out any waterbirds on the lake. Following round the lake margin the next landmark is the outdoor activity centre. It's worth checking the pontoons here to see if the usual lapwings have any company. The rest of your journey is a meander round the edge of the lake, taking you back to the bottom of Smithybridge Road and Lake Bank.

Hollingworth Lake