5th August 2025

 Weather: W force 8

Storm Flores blew up a gale this morning but the expectation of many good seabirds was not justified. A single Manx Shearwater and a single Gannet were noted but there was little else apart from 4 Scoter and 200 Sandwich Terns.

 

For the observer at Hilbre however 4 Little Terns put on a show feeding in the gutter for an hour after the tide. 

 

A good number of gulls including 600 Herring gulls were on the Razorshell wreck on the East Hoyle. The few passerines about including the Woodpigeon, one or 2 Pipits and 2 Goldfinches kept low in the wind. A single Bar-tailed Godwit and 2 Whimbrel were the pick of the waders. Two little Egrets were on the shore.

 

 Photos AS 

3rd August 2025

 Weather: SW force 4,  increasing force 6 with some rain mid-morning

 Two Willow Warbler migrants were the only new small birds here this morning.

There were quite a few breeders still around however including a couple of juvenile Swallows among the 7 present.

Ten Rock Pipits on the islands included a brood of 4 unringed birds at the north end, 3 adult Blackbirds were noted.

 Others in the gardens/paddocks were 2 Goldfinches, a Meadow Pipit and a Robin in addition to the forty or so Linnets. The late sitting Woodpigeon still keeps an eye on the visitors.

Sandwich Terns amount to about 300 today, also a Common Tern. A couple of Common Scoter showed well on the rocks.

 

 The most interesting of the gulls was this Black-headed Gull between Little and Middle Eye that was originally ringed in Northern Island in 2015.

 A hundred Ringed Plover was a good number and 2 Whimbrel were here with 2 Bar-tailed Godwit.

 

also 30 Redshank.

There were 6 Little Egret and 4 Grey Heron, while the female Kestrel hunted the island.

Photos AEH
 

2nd August 2025

 Weather:  NW force 4

 The moth trap overnight produced a number of good records as follows: 

 

Willow Beauty

 

 

Dark Fruit-tree Tortrix

  A Brimstone moth was added to the list later. Birds were fairly scarce this morning although the Woodpigeon was still here of course and there were 8 Wrens, 3 Blackbirds, 8 Rock Pipits, 28 Linnets and 12 Meadow Pipits.

 

Sea and shore birds included 100 Sandwich and 2 Common Terns, 2 Common Scoter,  4 Little Egret, 1 Grey Heron, 6 Whimbrel and 22 Ringed Plover.

Photos CJW 

1st August 2025

 Weather: NW force 3

 

 A late evening journey to the island found a few waders around on the ebb tide: 40 Ringed Plover, 120 Redshank, 10 Turnstone, 25 Curlew and a single Whimbrel. Before the light faded 2 Little Egrets were seen also a Grey Heron and a few of the breeding birds such as Meadow and Rock Pipit, Wrens and Blackbirds.

Photo CJW 

31st July 2025

 Weather: NNW force 2/3

There were 2 Willow Warblers today, with the right weather hopefully we should have a large fall soon ! A juvenile Robin today, probably bred on the island, we seldom supect them before they fledge. The adult Pied Wagtail and the 2 Goldfinches are still here, also 2 Swallows and 2 Blackbirds. Rarest breeding bird for Hilbre is a Woodpigeon, still on the nest. Among the waders were 4 Ringed Plover and 3 Whimbrel, also on the shore are 2 Little Egrets. A Common frog was noted and invertebrates included a Common Blue bitterfly and 4 Large Yellow Underwing moths.

Ringing: 1 juvenile Robin, 1 Willow Warbler 

30th July 2025

 Weather: NNW force 2/3,  rain clearing then W 4 later

A Willow Warbler was on the island and 2 Sand Martins came through while the regular breeding birds included the 2 Goldfinch, adult Pied Wagtail and adult Robin. A single Black-tailed Godwit would be one of the first here on Wirral for the autumn, a couple of their Bar-tailed cousins and 3 Whimbrel were the best of the other waders. A Common Seal hauled out with 292 Grey Seals and just 60 Sandwich Terns were here today. The Kestrel was about the island. A Red Admiral and a Small White were the only butterflies noted.

25th July 2025

 Weather: SW force 2

The slight southerly element in the wind this morning brought the first Willow Warbler of the autumn to be ringed on the island. There were 400 Sandwich and 4 Common Terns and the female Eider showed up. Others here were 9 little Egrets, 2 Grey Herons, 150 Dunlin, 6 Turnstones while passerines noted included 68 Linnets, 3 Blackbirds, 6 Meadow Pipits and 8 Rock Pipits. The moth trap this morning was a worthwhile exercise with a long list of species.

 

Southern Wainscot

Buff Tip

 

Antler Moth

 

True Lovers Knot

 

Scarce Footman

Wormwood Pug

 Photos CJW

24th July 2025

 Weather: WNW force 3/4   with slight mist, W 3 late evening

Terns were in abundance this morning, 350 Sandwich and 13 Common, while many of the waders (650 Dunlin and particularly 12 Turnstone) were in fine summer plumage. Little Egrets excelled with 16 present as is often the case at this time of year. The Kestrel was here and the White Wagtail was still present. Some butterflies flew today in the fine weather, they were 10 Red Admirals (probably migrants), 2 Peacocks, 4 Green-veined Whites and 1 Small Tortoiseshell.

22nd July 2025

 Weather:  NW force 3

A very brief visit on Tuesday evening found lots of Black-headed Gulls around the islands, also a nice Mediterranean Gull. 

20th July 2025

 Weather: E 4 at dawn, then ESE 5 later in the morning

 A very early start  didn’t disappoint as large numbers of Manx Shearwater pass through as the tide rose, with birds travelling up river as far as WKML. 

  

 

 

 

At the end of the morning 512 Manx Shearwaters were counted, but just 22 Gannets and 3 Scoter were noted. Sandwich Terns meanwhile had good numbers of young roosting after tide, 420 was a conservative estimate.

 

Only 2 Common Terns were still about and the only Knot today flew with the Sandwich Tern flock.

 Passage birds included 14 Swift flying through.

 A single Yellow Wagtail came through and a White Wagtail was down on the island.

..and a juvenile Stonechat showed very well.

  Waders included 9 Whimbrel,

 

 and 5 Turnstone were resplendent in their summer plumage.

 

 

 Photos AEH

16th July 2025

 Weather: WNW force 2/3 

 A breezy but hot day on Hilbre meant once again insects were in abundance. Ten species of butterfly recorded with Essex Skipper being seen and photographed by Matt Thomas. 

 Other species included Large Skipper (photo),

Also Red Admiral and plenty of Common Blues - only 1 female of the latter was seen.

 

 A brief Hummingbird Hawkmoth was seen in Niffy Bay. A few Six-spot Burnet moths were still on the wings but not as many as recorded previously. Surprisingly the pond only hosted one species of Odonata - Blue-tailed Damselfly. The Rock Pipit colour ringing project continued with 4 new birds being added to the scheme and 2 colour ringed birds retrapped. 

 A juvenile Linnet was also ringed. Short-tailed Field Voles have been scarce this year so it was good to see one alive and a dead one caught by a female Kestrel that made an appearance and devoured it’s unfortunate prey on the chimney stack of Telegraph House.

Continuing the recent good number of records for Common Sandpiper another was disturbed at the south end slip over the high tide. 

 Many of the waders are beginning their return journey back from their breeding grounds with small numbers of Dunlin, Ringed Plover, Turnstone and Whimbrel being noted. A real surprise were two juvenile Stonechats that were in the Obs garden and Gazebo garden first thing but then promptly disappeared! 

The female Eider and a male White Wagtail was still on the island and a single House Martin joined the local Swallows.

Photos PSW, (Essex Skipper, Matt Thomas)