Weather: SSE force 1/2  later WSW  6  with rain mid afternoon A brief spell of a southerly element in the wind meant some obvious migration took place. In the padddocks and gardens were 3 Willow Warbler, 3 Chiffchaffs and 3 White Wagtails, 4 Swallows and a Collared Dove came through during the morning. Finches also turned up; in addition to the 6 Goldfinches showing 2 Siskins and a Redpoll flew through. Small bird of the day was a Yellow Wagtail making itself known. A single Wheatear was on the ground.    The lack of strong head winds early this morning encourag ..read more

 Weather: NNW force 5, easing 3/4 by late evening with the lake district visible A quiet day with no warblers present nor small migrants of any kind if we exclude the 4 Goldfinches hanging about.  The main interest came with seeing the winter visitors heading north, there were 62 Brent today, possibly all that are still with us, likewise 4 Purple Sandpipers, but we have been fooled before. Sea bird arrivals feeding today were 70 Gannets and 279 Sandwich Terns, always a delight around the island.   Two of the scarcer Arctic Terns were also noted. Flocks of Common Scoter, abou ..read more

 Weather: NW force 4/5  Following yesterdays gale the strong north westerly blew sand across the foreshore as the tide was very small. A Chiffchaff was on the island but we had to wait until later in the afternoon for the bonus of a male Blackcap to ring. Four Goldfinches  and 3 Woodpigeons visited, one of the group arrived randomly from the south.  Earlier the sea was the main interest in these conditions, and a good list resulted from a period of watching. Counts included 176 Gannets, 200 Common Scoter, 3 Razorbills, 2 Red-throated Divers, 2 Great Crested Grebes, a Red ..read more

 Weather: SW force 2 The early morning was without wind of rain and as usual started with the Pink-footed Geese flying out north along the Wirral shore, 40 today. A look at the trapping area saw several phylloscopus warblers about and 4 Willow Warblers and a Chiffchaff were ringed.    It was obviously not a big 'fall' however and the next two hours only produced a few more. One of the Willow Warblers (right in photo) was darker in the hamd and probably belonged to one of the northern races. Late morning a few drops of rain was enough to drop in 3 Chiffchaffs and another Will ..read more

Weather: SSW  force 3, increasing 6 later  Another quiet day.  Most of the Brent will be leaving shortly, possibly within the next few days, but there are still at least 146 around the islands. Also leaving are the Pink-footed Geese, exiting the estuary for breeding grounds further north, about 100 were calling as they went. A Canada Goose that was in the gutter will be of local origin and not planning any long journeys. Some of the 5 Eiders today may stay the summer, who knows. A Good variety of waders roosted the high tide in Niffy bay   At the north end 450 Knot were th ..read more

 Weather:  SW force 4 On the whole a quiet day for April. Wildfowl featured early with 3 Canada Geese around the islands and about 200 Pink-footed Geese flying out of the estuary. Some of the Brent seem to have left already, 116 were counted today, while Eiders numbered 5, numbers present seem to vary slightly each day. There were 4 Shelduck and 2 Little Egrets on the shore. The only real migrants found were 4 Goldfinch and a Willow Warbler. A Guillemot was hanging around the island again and 4 Sandwich terns were seen. Good numbers of waders are still here,    500 Oysterc ..read more

Weather: SE force 4    later veering SSE with showers   This morning was the biggest exit of Pink-footed Geese we have seen leaving the estuary in one day with over 3,000 moving north in numerous loose flocks, none exceeding 200 birds. A lot of showery rain about meant few migrants passing through and on the island despite the wind direction, 24 Goldfinches managed to arrive but there were just singles of Swallow. Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff. There were however 2 Wheatears, a species that seems to be able to make the islands regardless of the conditions. A newly arr ..read more

 Weather: NNW force 5 increasing WSW 8 by noon (high tide)  Our members were present for one of the highest tides of the year which caused controversy at West Kirby as the water flooded over the new sea wall. Things were just as spectacular on the island as some areas could not be visited during the height of the storm.    Migrants did not entirely desert us in these challenging conditions, a Blackcap, 4 Chiffchaffs and a Willow Warbler were here, also 3 Wheatears.  A Woodpigeon was a less surprising visitor. Newly arrived Sandwich Terns rested low on the rocks for ..read more

 Weather: ESE force 2, light rain, increasing 4 late afternoon  Pink-footed Geese are now leaving the Dee for their northern breeding sites, 165 left at dawn followed by a further 219 at high tide. Four Eiders stayed with us but scarcest of the wildfowl seen today were 2 pairs of Shovelers just off the East Hoyle for a while after the tide before flying north east. Watching the sea produced 13 Gannets, a Red-throated Diver, 34 Common Scoter, 5 Great Crested Grebes, 5 Guillemots, 2 Red-breasted Mergansers and 7 Sandwich Terns. On the passerines side 2 Wheatears landed today,   ..read more

 Weather: SW force 8  Another day, another gale. An afternoon visit found 6 phylloscopus warblers still on the island, probably left over from saturday. The birds were buffeted about and kept low as possible in the paddocks and gardens and were therefore difficult to see well enough to assign to species. The single Starling however was easy to see as it hung about the obs garden most of the afternoon.  A single Wheatear was still here and found shelter on the east side. Twelve Gannets fished in the swash (west side), 260 Common Scoter were noted this afternoon and Sandwich tern ..read more