New Brighton

Common gull, Wallasey Dunes

I thought I'd go over to the Wirral for a seaside wander and it turned out to be an excellent idea as the weather decided to be glorious.

I arrived in New Brighton ready for the lunchtime high tide. The weather was all wrong for serious seawatching (the best birds get blown close to shore by filthy weather) but there was a chance that the dead clear visibility might work my way. I've not seen many reports of Leach's petrels in Liverpool Bay this Autumn so I wasn't optimistic about seeing one today.

Cormorant, New Brighton

Lunchtime on the promenade was predictably busy but cheerful and not unpleasant. It was too busy for there to be a wader roost on the marine lake pontoons. The high tide had brought lots of cormorants in, those that weren't hanging out to dry on buoys and storm cones were fishing in the river in packs. There weren't many lesser black-backs about, for the most part any gull that wasn't herring was black-headed. Which didn't stop me staring at them just in case something unusual had slipped into the crowd. 

Cormorants, New Brighton

Herring gulls, New Brighton

The grey shape bobbing up and down near the lighthouse turned out to be the nose of a grey seal. It lifted its head above the water for a deep breath then dived out of sight. Which is what a black and white bird out in the middle of the river did. Luckily it bobbed back up a few times and I was able to identify it as a red-throated diver.

Red-throated diver, New Brighton

I strolled along the promenade, looking out to sea nearly all the time. The starlings and gulls in Morrison's car park were joined by pied wagtails and a skylark. Out to sea there was an occasional passing herring gull or cormorant. A couple of juvenile great black-backs steamed by in the distance. I spotted probably the same diver half a mile out to sea. I tried keeping track of it which was easier said than done as it was underwater more often than not. At one point I thought it had bobbed back up fairly close to shore but it turned out to be a passing great crested grebe.

Great crested grebe, New Brighton

Approaching the lighthouse station the herring gulls on the sea wall gave way to black-headed gulls and then to carrion crows. The gulls were busy dancing for worms on the traffic island while the crows broke cockle shells on the concrete wall.

The tide was starting to ebb as I reached the revetment and walked down by Wallasey Dunes. A handful of common gulls dabbled on the shore. They're something else that's been in short supply so far this Autumn.

Common gull, Wallasey Dunes

I walked as far as Leasowe Bay then walked back into Wallasey for the train, going through the North Wirral Coastal Park and failing to get artistic photos of carrion crows in the boughs of white poplars.

Leasowe Bay

I'd bought an all areas Saveaway to get to New Brighton so I decided to get the use of it and headed up the Sefton Coast. I'd hoped to be early enough to just miss the crowds but miscalculated badly. I didn't have the energy to add a late afternoon walk to the day so I stayed on to Southport and got the train home from there. The hundreds of pink-footed geese in the fields between Hall Road and Hightown were a reminder that I'll be spending a lot of next Winter on the Sefton Coast.