West Kirby

Redshank

I thought I'd best get a walk in before Storm Amy hits so I headed over to West Kirby to see if the Slavonian grebe was still on the marine lake.

Black-headed gull 

Hilbre

It was a nicely uneventful train journey to West Kirby. The weather was fine, a bit of cloud, a stiff but warm breeze, nice walking weather as I wandered down to the marine lake. It was low tide so there weren't many birds about this end of the lake, a light smattering of herring gulls, black-headed gulls and pigeons. Out on the sands there was a procession of walkers over to Hilbre, a few more gulls and some carrion crows.

West Kirby Marine Lake 

Then I noticed the chap with a big lens lying on one of the piers. I looked over to where the lens was pointing but could see nothing. It was only when I walked past him that I had a clear view of the stretch of water he was looking at but I was none the wiser until the Slavonian grebe bobbed up about twenty yards from shore. And immediately disappeared again. I stood and waited, they can stay underwater for ages. Again it bobbed up, took a couple of breaths and was underwater again. This time I got a photo of the water just after it had submerged. I was surprised to see it at this end, whenever I've seen divers, grebes or diving ducks on here it's either been midwater or over towards the Southern end of the lake. The grebe's brief reappearance coincided with the arrival of a mob of herring gulls and it made a quick exit. 

I spent a few minutes hoping to see it reappear but had no luck so I decided to do a circuit of the lake. I might see where it had got to, or it might double back and be fishing here again when I returned.

Carrion crow 

West Kirby Marine Lake  on the left, the Dee Estuary on the right, North Wales straight ahead

I'd started an anticlockwise walk so I decided to finish it, walking along the path between the lake and the Dee Estuary. Gulls bobbed about by the path. Packs of teenaged carrion crows strutted and barged each other about on the mud. Older carrion crows went about their business in ones and twos. I kept scanning the lake for the grebe but only found gulls and cormorants until I noticed a redhead red-breasted merganser fishing just off the main promenade. There seemed to be a passage of rock pipits, at least four of them flew past me over the lake within five minutes' walking.

Dee Estuary, Birth Wales in the distance 

The River Dee was a distant line of silver. It wasn't until I was about three-quarters along the path that any of the small silhouettes resolved themselves into cormorants, oystercatchers and shelducks. Curlews called but I couldn't find them. A little further on and I could easily pick out the shelducks and even the flock of dunlins that flew across the mud. One group of "shelducks" stayed dark even at this angle, they were about half a dozen brent geese but from this range I couldn't tell if they were light- or dark-bellied, I could only pick out that the undersides were greyer than the blackish upperparts.

Dee Estuary 

The path turns sharply round at the Southern end of the lake. Shelducks dabbled in the mud in the mid-distance and oystercatchers and redshanks loitered in the creeks, taking a break after frantically feeding on the ebb tide.

The same creek.
What I thought was a mud formation was a couple of dozen redshanks.

Away down the estuary, a mile or more distant, clouds of pink-footed geese rose and fell over the salt marshes.

There's a viewpoint on the main promenade by the lake and the breakwater rocks here are a favoured roosting place for waders. Sure enough there was a mass twittering of turnstones on the tops of the rocks, within reaching distance of the people leaning on the railings, while the surprisingly quiet redshanks preferred to be out of harm's way.

Turnstones
They were very vocal today.

Turnstones

Turnstone and redshank 

Turnstones 

Redshanks 

Herring gull 

Turnstones 

Redshanks 

Turnstone isometrics 

I completed my circuit. The Slavonian grebe had gone back to the shallow end of the lake but was further out this time, keeping out of the way of windsurfers.

Slavonian grebe 

Slavonian grebe 

On a whim I got the 22 to Chester, I could use one of my complimentary single tickets to get a train home from there. It was an opportunity to remind myself that I should visit Parkgate and Neston again this Winter. As the bus travelled along The Parade at Parkgate wave upon wave of skeins of pink-footed geese passed overhead. I definitely need to make a visit.

I was most of the way to Chester when I saw that a Ross' goose had turned up at Marshside. I had to concede, reluctantly, that a mad dash up there wasn't really sensible. I got the train back to Manchester. It will come as no surprise to the reader to find out the train home from Oxford Road was cancelled. Not that the buses were much better, either.