15th March 2021

 Weather: WNW force 3/4  mist around the estuary

Three Eiders (2 males and a female) flew in from the Hoylake direction early morning to settle at the north end of the island. A Peregrine with a fresh kill to the east of Hilbre was pestered by the Carrion Crows which kept pulling it's tail ! 

 

 Two Rock Pipits were at the north end of both Middle and the main island, hopefully boding well for breeding attempts this year. The large high tide saw 16 Purple Sandpipers resting and produced records of 3,000 Oystercatchers, 47 Curlew, 128 Turnstone, 26 Ringed Plover, 6 Grey Plover, although the entire gathering of birds roosting at the north end of Middle were naturally disturbed when the coastguard helicopter landed to evacuate an injured visior stranded there by the tide.

No Little Gulls were sighted today, but 8 Red-throated Divers, 5 Great Crested Grebes and 2 Guillemots were. A larege number of gulls were on the east hoyle bank including about 2,000 Herring Gulls.