12th April 2025

 Weather: SE force 3

With a change in the weather in the offing the largest fall of Willow Warblers landed so far occurred today with 35 on the island ( mainly large males).

 Not to be outdone 8 Chiffchaffs were also here together with others ranging from a male Blackcap early in the day to a Grasshopper Warbler mid-afternoon low in the heli trap grass. One of the Chiffchaffs trapped had been ringed elsewhere.

An early Tree Pipit landed briefly in the paddocks and a Song Thrush was also a surprise when found in the afternoon. The remaining migrants were much as expected, a few Meadow Pipits, 2 Goldfinches and  2 White Wagtails, not forgetting the 6 Wheatears.

Unusually a Little Egret was on the island pond.

 

Of the regular breeders there were 6 Blackbirds and 35 Linnets,

A Carrion Crow was ominously carrying nesting material

Some action on the sea today included 12 Gannets, 250 Sandwich and 6 Common Terns, a Fulmar drifted passed on the tide, a scarce bird recently, and 3 Common Scoter were  near the island. Just 2 Brent were seen, also 2 Shelduck, and return of 3 Eiders after a period of no show.

Best among the waders was an early Whimbrel, there are still 6 Purple Sandpipers showing. The movement away to breeding grounds was demonstrated when  a group of 350 Oystercatchers were seen to fly north. The moth trap was sadly empty this morning.

Ringed: 22 Willow Warblers, 4 Chiffchaffs, 1 Blackcap, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 1 Meadow Pipit, 2 Linnets, 1 Song Thrush.

 Photos CJW

11th April 2025

 Weather: E force 1

A late afternoon arrival preparing for the next day recorded 6 Blackbirds, 4 Rock Pipits, a single Willow Warbler and a single Brent Goose and 8 Shelduck. There were 45 Turnstone and 10 Redshank.

10th April 2025

 Weather: ESE force 2

A short pre-tide visit discovered 6 Willow Warblers down on the island giving good views to our member.

 

 

 

 Other migrants found were a Swallow, 6 Goldfinches and a single male Wheatear.

 

 

 About 30 Linnets were showing on breeding territories,

 Just a single Brent was here in the morning but there were 6 Shelduck.

 On the sea 4 Gannets, a Shag and 10 Common Scoter were noted and 2 Sandwich Terns.

 A couple of Purple Sandpiper showed, also 20 Ringed Plover and 10 Turnstone.

Photos AEH

9th April 2025

Weather: E force 1/2 with mist. N 2/3 early afternoon.

Conditions looked good first thing and expectations were high when a Grasshopper Warbler was heard reeling in the west gardens, however few non local passerines were noted subsequently, the best being a male Blackcap, a couple of Redpoll, a Swallow, 4 Goldfinches and a few phylloscopus warblers. On the sea around the island were 7 Shelduck calling and displaying.

  Only 12 Common Scoter were seen.

 Also 14 Brent Geese are still here.

 

Further out was a single Guillemot, 4 Gannet and 35 Sandwich Tern.

 

Sixty Turnstones roosted the tide on the island.

Photos AS

8th April 2025

Weather: ESE force 3, force 4 later in the morning, then N 2 with haze in the afternoon.

 

 

A disappointing day in terms of species logged for early April. A steady trickle of phylloscopus warblers drifted in totalling about 16 on the day, equally divided between Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs, these were the only warblers this morning. Very little else arrived except for a small number of Meadow Pipits moving south, also going south were 2 Reed Buntings, and sightings of 3 Pied Wagtails, 3 Goldfinches, a Lesser Redpoll and 3 Swallows. Three Brent hung about the north end all morning and were joined by another 10 later, most have now left us.

Thirty Sandwich Terns made themselves known by their calls but the only other sea birds were 5 Gannets and 25 Common Scoter. Several colour ringed Rock Pipits can be seen around the islands at the moment, here is ' CBB'.

 

 Waders were scarce at high tide except for a flock of 45 Turnstone that flew into the main island. As the island was quiet at high tide a Grey Heron stood briefly by the pond where 3 male Mallards and a single female resided.

 Ringed: 5 Willow Warblers, 5 Chiffchaffs, 1 Linnet, 1 Robin. 

Photos AS, CJ

7th April 2025

 Weather: ESE force 4/5  SE 2/3 late afternoon

A very quiet morning because of the strong cold wind but a highlight were 230 Sandwich Tern streaming up the estuary over morning tide. Others noted on the sea were 5 Gannets, 12 Common Scoter, 3 Great Crested Grebes and a Guillemot. Fourteen pale and a single dark bellied Brent seemed to be the most remaining here today. The 10 Meadow Pipits around the island were probably all breeding birds,

 

  likewise the 6 Rock Pipits. 

 

 Later in the afternoon as it warmed up and the wind dropped a lone Wheatear appeared, 

 

likewise 15 Chiffchaffs dropped in (almost as many as yesterday), but just 2 Willow Warblers arrived.

 

A Woodpigeon had come through, also 2 Goldfinches and recorded were singles of Swallow, House Martin and Sand Martin. In the evening a nice surprise were 2 Harbour Porpoise swimming close in off the west side. A Small Tortoiseshell was the only butterfly recorded today.

  Photos AS

6th April 2025

Weather:  ESE  slight mist

It is not every day we have 2 Ospreys sighted from the islands but today was such a day. The first was seen near Little Eye at about 9.20 then over the marine lake before making off over Leasowe and Seaforth, then another was found circling over the obs an hour and a half later.

 

Island passage during the morning featured a fall of 20 Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler, 4 Greenland Wheatears, 2 Goldfinch, 2 Lesser Redpoll and a White Wagtail. One of the Chiffchaffs captured had already been ringed elsewhere in Britain (we will discover where later), but the surprising thing was that we know for sure that it was ringed in 2018, and as such it has survived longer than most of the species's normal lifespan.

 

Hirundines were passing through in good numbers, 35 Sand Martins, 12 Swallows and a single House Martin . A Woodpigeon and a Collared Dove visited the islands, the fast flying Collared Dove is often a challenge as it frequently evades the heligoland traps.

 

 

 A look at the sea revealed a Red-throated Diver, 120 Common Scoter and 18 Sandwich Tern. Twenty two pale-bellied Brent and 1 dark-bellied were here and 4 Goosander turned up, while a late showing of 6 Teal and 5 Wigeon seemed also indicated the changing seasons. Two thousand Knot flew north for the approaching summer but still around the islands were 100 Dunlin, 65 Redshank, 80 Turnstone, 35 Curlew, while there were also 40 Ringed Plover and 2 Grey Plover.

 

Ringed: 9 Chiffchaffs, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Collared Dove.

 Photos CJW, SRW

5th April 2025

 Weather: ENE force 4, later E 4 with haze

The sea was quiet with singles of Gannet and Great-crested Grebe, 2 distant Sandwich Tern, 5 male and a female Mallard off the Whaleback early morning and a total of only 22 Common Scoter noted.

On the small afternoon tide 5 Little Egret were at the head of the Gutter and a Heron looked for frogs by the pond, only 10 Brent Geese could be seen and 5 Shelduck were around the islands. Below the west side at high tide were 2 Knot, 2 Dunlin and 40 Redshank

 also 17 Ringed Plover.

 

Also noted were 20 Curlew and 50 Turnstone.

Hirundines passed overhead  with our first House Martin of the year noted by Matt Thomas, also a single Sand Martin and a total of 31 Swallow. Land migrants included a small movement of Meadow Pipits, 4 Chiffchaffs, 3 Willow Warblers, 4 Goldfinch,  a Reed Bunting and a Magpie.
Photos AS

4th April 2025

 Weather: E force 2, increasing 3/4 later      sunny and warm

 A slightly different day than yesterday, without some of the frequent birds of early spring ( Woodpigeons, Jackdaws, House Sparrows etc.) but still some finches, 12 Lesser Redpolls, 8 Goldfinches, 3 Siskins. The highlight of the day was when a Wheatear of the Greenland race (first this year) was caught for ringing. Strangely it was a female which was also the case for the first Wheatear that arrived at the island. Normally like a lot of species males arrive first in spring.

In total there were 7 Wheatears including 2 of the Greenland race. The first Swallows flew through the island this morning but too rapidly for photos, 2 individuals came south. Small warblers were here in good numbers this morning, 8 Chiffchaffs and 5 Willow Warblers. Below are one of each, Willow Warbler on the left and Chiffchaff on the right (with pollen horn).

The female Blackcap showed again for the 3rd day. Three Canada Geese sat on the shore to the west of the island, while the Brent numbered 81 plus a dark-bellied bird, there were 9 Shelduck, 6 Common Scoter, a Great Crested Grebe, 2 Little Egrets and a Grey Heron. Not many waders were about at the low tide, a few dozen Knot and Dunlin were seen with 35 Turnstone, 12 Ringed Plover and a Grey Plover. Two Small and 2 Green-veined White butterflies were the only ones noted. Two Hoverflies were on the obs fence and were obviously into the full spirit of spring. Our insect expert identified them as one of the drone flies, an Eristalis species.

Ringed: 5 Chiffchaffs, 2 Willow Warblers, 1 Greenland Wheatear, 1 Northern Wheatear, 1 Linnet.
Photos SRW