Bird watching and the River Mersey
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RSPB Gayton Sands & Parkgate
All the marsh off Parkgate is part of the Gayton Sands RSPB reserve. The town of Parkgate was once a bustling port, one of the main departure points for Ireland in the 18th century but the ships are now a distant memory. The silting of the river has left a rich marsh which, at high tides during the winter months, provides some of the most spectacular bird watching in the North West of England. The estuary teems with life, it supports huge numbers of waders and wildfowl, in excess of 120,000 birds throughout the winter months. Estuarine Mudflats are the most productive habitats on the earth in each square metre of mud it is possible to find upto 450,00 worms and 5,000 snails. Large flocks of waders and wildfowl come to feed on Ragworm, lugworm, mud snail, mussels, cockles and shrimp.. In winter Redwings and Fieldfares from Scandinavia feed on the fields/golf course along the Wirral Way. (*A 12 mile linear park along abandoned railway line from West Kirby to Hooton http://www.wirral.gov.uk/er/wcp.htm). Spring is a good time to see a variety of warbler species, small birds recently returned from southern Europe and African wintering grounds Willow Warbler, Chiff Chaff, Blackcap, Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat. The hedgerows will be in full flower, bright yellow gorse contrasting with the vivid white flowers of blackthorn. Long-tailed Tits nest in the gorse, brightly-coloured male Yellowhammers sing ‘a little bit of bread and no cheeeese’ from the top of hawthorns, while Greenfinch, Goldfinch and Linnet flit about. Parkgate is renowned for its high tide Birdwatch's when up to 400 birders may be present. This occurs when the incoming tide reaches heights of over 32ft/9.8 metres and covers the marsh. From the Old Baths car park near The Boathouse public house at Parkgate, you can watch large flocks of wading birds driven up onto the saltmarsh. In autumn and winter, flocks of Pintails, Teals, Wigeons and Shelducks, Skylarks, Pipits and various finches gather together in huge flocks to feed on the seeds and vegetation. During the summer months the marsh is home to breeding birds - Skylarks being the most common, building their nests amongst the scurvy grass and golden samphire, alongside Redshank, Lapwing, Mallard and Shelduck. For most of the year the reserve is purely for the birds, a place where they can live undisturbed and largely unseen.
Riverbank Road is just north of the RSPB's Gayton Sands reserve on the Dee Estuary. (Beyond Gayton Cottage on map) Enjoy panoramic views of Heswall Gutter (Teal and waders feed in the gutter before it floods), the saltmarsh and estuary beyond. High Tides at Parkgate: A 10 metre tide can create a wildlife spectacular. (Arrive well before high tide 1.5hrs before) It starts as flocks of Shelduck, Teal, Pintail and Mallard take to the air as the encroaching tide covers their usual roosting spot. They are joined by large wader flocks of Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Redshank, Knot and Curlew as they too are displaced from their roost sites further down the estuary. When the water breaks over the edge of the marsh, the ducks are forced closer on the rising water. The small land-based birds - Meadow Pipits, Skylarks, Linnets and Starlings - take flight, and you may be lucky enough to see a Water Rail. As the water encroaches towards the sea wall, small mammals such as Water Voles, Wood Mice, Shrews, Brown Rats and Common Shrews retreat to higher ground. With all this movement, the opportunist hunters arrive. Herons, Gulls, Kestrels and Marsh Harriers take their share, and on a good day Peregrines, Merlins and Sparrowhawks turn up (check posts and tree stumps on the marsh for raptors) Ground predators are sometimes visible too - Foxes, Stoats and Weasels retreat with the smaller animals snatching their lunch of smaller fleers on the run. The most spectacular hunter though is the Short-eared Owl, quartering the marsh, getting closer and closer as the tide makes its way towards the sea wall.
More information on the Dee/Wirral area can be found on the excellent Dee Estuary Birding Website http://www.deeestuary.co.uk
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