Coastal migration spots in the NW of England (1 Viewer)

I was just wondring where the best place to go is to watch passage of birds like Skuas, Terns, Phalaropes, other Waders, passerines and anything else even in the North West of England?

The only place i can think of is Hilbre. How good is it to visit in the next 2 weeks? Which other places are decent to visit and what can expected to be seen there?

Himalaya said:

I was just wondring where the best place to go is to watch passage of birds like Skuas, Terns, Phalaropes, other Waders, passerines and anything else even in the North West of England?

The only place i can think of is Hilbre. How good is it to visit in the next 2 weeks? Which other places are decent to visit and what can expected to be seen there?

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Hilbre has an observatory but is only accessable at low tide - see the website for details (http://www.hilbrebirdobs.blogspot.com). Other sites along the Wirral coast (another particularly good spot is Red Rocks) plus tide times etc. can be found at http://www.deeestuary.co.uk

There is always a good variety of waders to be seen at high tide plus the odd Skua. Petrels and Phalaropes generally only appear when strong winds blow the birds inshore. Should be plenty of migrants along the coast still although again numbers and species can be weather dependant.

CB

Anywhere along the north west coast is worth a visit but it all depends on the conditions being right.
Obviously the North Wirral coast from New Brighton to West Kirby but i've had good results at Marshside, Blackpool, & Walney Island not forgetting the Solway Firth.

Hilbre to New Brighton can be superb - if the weather conditions are right. The outlook for the next few weeks seems pretty poor for seawatching, and migration in general though but keep checking http://www.deeestuary.co.uk. A good few days of strong northwesterly winds bring good numbers of birds into the northern half of the Irish Sea - particularly Leach's Storm-Petrels.
Chris

chris butterworth said:

Hilbre to New Brighton can be superb - if the weather conditions are right. The outlook for the next few weeks seems pretty poor for seawatching, and migration in general though but keep checking http://www.deeestuary.co.uk. A good few days of strong northwesterly winds bring good numbers of birds into the northern half of the Irish Sea - particularly Leach's Storm-Petrels.
Chris

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When these birds be most likely to appear?

Which conditions are best for which birds?

osprey31 said:

Anywhere along the north west coast is worth a visit but it all depends on the conditions being right.
Obviously the North Wirral coast from New Brighton to West Kirby but i've had good results at Marshside, Blackpool, & Walney Island not forgetting the Solway Firth.

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thats a long stretch......which bits are best fo rwhich birds.......which areas has all the birds?

where abouts in marshside have you had good luck and what have you seen?

i do plan to to go walney one day - what can one see in teh summer and during winter there?

I know it is right next to a nuclear power station, but Heysham is good.
http://heyshamobservatory.blogspot.com/

Himalaya said:

When these birds be most likely to appear?

Which conditions are best for which birds?

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Leach's Petrels tend to appear in the largest numbers during Sept to mid October. As Chris says a couple of days of strong NW winds blows the birds onto the North Wirral shore. The stronger the wind the better.

CB

Himalaya said:

When these birds be most likely to appear?

Which conditions are best for which birds?

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and

Himalaya said:

thats a long stretch......which bits are best fo rwhich birds.......which areas has all the birds?

where abouts in marshside have you had good luck and what have you seen?

i do plan to to go walney one day - what can one see in teh summer and during winter there?

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So many questions, where do I start? The best advice is buy a book and / or research the places on the internet . Lots of good places such as Hilbre have dedicated blogs or websites, which are quite easy to find with a quick Google search.

I've been visiting Marshside for 35 years, I've seen lots of good birds and had some great days, yet equally I've had some dire days when I've seen nothing. Nobody can predict what tomorrow will bring. Surely that's the joy of birding? No area has all of the birds by the way........

The type of birds you are asking about are impossible to predict. The best anybody can do is tell you that in September / October, IF the weather conditions are right, you have a chance of Leaches Petrels and other seabirds off the coast of North West England.

However, that depends on the wind being strong enough and in the right direction to the west of Scotland three days ago to force them into the Irish sea in the first place, and then it depends on the strength and direction of the wind today as to where you are likely to see them. A good north westerly blow will see them showing up off the Wirral coast, whereas a south westerly will see them off Blackpool and the Fylde, a considerable distance away. If the wind is any other direction, such as easterly as it is at the moment, then you have absolutely no chance of seeing any, anywhere. We might not get another decent seawatching spell until next year now. Who knows?

I might add that I've been to the Wirral coast on days when the conditions seem perfect for sea birds, and still seen virtually nothing. You take your chances......

I don't know where you're based, but Walney is a hell of a drive from where I am in Merseyside, and for what I'm likely to see there, I'd rather go to Marshside.

Birdwatching is a science in itself. There is a lot to learn and it will take time. I am not even that familiar with some of the commonest bird's songs and calls.


I prefer Marshside as it is only about 35 mlies from where I live. I would assume that to get birds such as Eider, Petrel's I would have to walk out towards the sea. I have walked a mile or 2km's towards the sea from the car park. I have seen plenty of LIttle Egrets and Waders. I do plan to go to Marshside again soon and would love the chance to see some sea birds btut where in Marshside woul be the most likely spot they could turn up? They woul be less likely at Nel' or Sandgrounders hide and more likely towards the sea?

You're right, fieldcraft can take a life time to learn, but the only way to improve is to get out there & see whats about.
Marshside is a great place for waders, but you generally only see a small number of Eiders at very high tide.
People have already provided some links to information websites & they're well worth having a look at.
That way, you will soon have an idea of the type of birds that frequent certain locations.
I find that doing a bit of homework for yourself can prove invaluable, just wish i'd had the internet when i was starting out, there's so much information now available.

osprey31 said:

I find that doing a bit of homework for yourself can prove invaluable, just wish i'd had the internet when i was starting out, there's so much information now available.

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I totally agree with that.

CB

Himalaya said:

.......I prefer Marshside as it is only about 35 mlies from where I live. I would assume that to get birds such as Eider, Petrel's I would have to walk out towards the sea.

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Marshside is not a good place to look for either Eiders or petrels, I've never seen either there. You need to be somewhere at high tide where you can look out over the open sea, and even then it depends on wind direction, strength of wind and time of year. The places to look for petrels are Blackpool pier, Rossall Point, Fomby Point, Crosby, North Wirral, Hilbre Island, those sort of places, but the wind has to be right. There's no point in just turning up whenever, because chances are you'll see nothing at all. Rossall Point just north of Fleetwood is also usually pretty good for Eiders in winter, Walney Island for breeding Eiders in summer.

....... would love the chance to see some sea birds btut where in Marshside woul be the most likely spot they could turn up? They woul be less likely at Nel' or Sandgrounders hide and more likely towards the sea?

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See above. If you're talking about real sea birds such as skuas, gannets, petrels and shearwaters, then Nel's and Sandgrounders are the last place you want to be, though many years ago I did see a Pomarine Skua flying over the marsh where Sandgrounders is now located, but thats one seabird in 35 years! :-O

Open sea, high tide, strong wind (coming from some kind of westerly direction) and autumn are the key things to bear in mind.

You can't beat researching it, reading books, looking at websites and blogs and above all getting out there and making mistakes.

Have you seen the Local Patch on here for North West of England

http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=129

Plenty to go at, some with regular upto date sightings.

Peter.

High tides predicted for friday & saturday of next week