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Bird watching and the River Mersey

Since the beginning of the 19th Century,  the River Mersey has been heavily affected by man,  with industrial towns and cities lining its banks.  Discharges from the factories and sewage from city sewers  

In the middle estuary where currents are slow , mud banks are created, full of invertebrates on which waders and wildfowl feed. Salt marshes have built up on some of these banks, particularly  on the the south shore at Ince and Stanlow Banks with smaller areas on the north shore at Oglet Bay and Hale.  There is little sediment deposited along the outer estuary where the river narrows and strong currents operate, a rocky and stony shore lines the river on the south bank from Egremont to New Brighton, Turnstones and Oyster-Catcher's feed on the mussels, barnacles sand-hoppers and other invertebrates along this stretch of the riverside. Purple Sandpipers can be seen along this stretch particularly on the recently constructed groynes in the New Brighton area. 

Situated at the mouth of the river on the northern bank ,Seaforth Nature Reserve  is host to many waders and wildfowl with many species roosting there during high tides,  with a large colony of Common Tern breeding on the man made rafts on the freshwater lagoon. Strong westerly and north westerly gales in September and October,  blow many seabirds  into the Mersey at these times including Leach's Petrel , skuas and other seabirds which can be watched for from New Brighton and the promenade at Crosby on the north bank.
As a result of the clean up campaign more fish are returning to the river and attracting numbers of Cormorants and Great Crested Grebes to hunt for fish in the estuary, Peregrine Falcons are a regular sighting hunting along the river and Short Eared Owls are often met with over the salt marsh areas. 

Access to the river side can be restricted especially on the the south bank where the Manchester Ship Canal prevents ready access to the shoreline, Eastham Country Park  in the Wirral provides good viewing on this side, while on the north bank the Mersey Way Footpath give good access to good viewing locations between Widnes and Garston (Liverpool). With riverside promenades offering the chance of bird watching in urban areas on both sides of the river.       

A recently released report shows that the River Mersey is now at its cleanest since the industrial revolution, the report reveals that fish can now live anywhere in the tidal reaches of the river. Oxygen levels have reached 60% with a level of 30% being the level at which fish can thrive. Regular fishing matches are held on the Mersey in Warrington , where catches include roach, bream and perch, cod, whiting and flatfish . Fish recorded around Seacombe Ferry in recent years – anchovy, garfish, sea trout, lumpsucker, bass, mackerel, horse mackerel, blenny, butterfish, sea scorpion, plaice, weever fish, flounder, whiting, cod, sand goby, sprat, pouting, greater pipefish, plaice, common smoothound and bullhuss.

WeBS The Wetland Bird Survey.

WeBS Core Counts are made annually at around 2,000 wetland sites of all habitats; estuaries and large still waters predominate. Monthly co-ordinated counts are made, mostly by volunteers. The principal months of data collection are from September to March although, increasingly, observations are submitted from the summer months also.
WeBS is jointly run by the British Trust for Ornithology, The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

Peak monthly counts for wildfowl and waders on the River Mersey covering the period 1996- 2001

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