42. Parkgate Birdwatching

The Dee Estuary holds some of the best wetland habitats in the country, particularly the vast saltmarsh that spans as far as the eye can see from Parkgate. When the tide washes in covering this wild expanse, all the wildlife that calls it home is disturbed, forced into closer view in search of somewhere drier or shallower whilst the tide peaks.

There is a very good article by the RSPB on why Parkgate is such a popular destination for birdwatchers.

We have these high tides (anything above 10 metres) around the spring and autumn equinoxes, but there is something interesting to see on the marshes every day. Walking the dogs along the sea wall this morning I saw herons, egrets, pheasants, a kestrel, spoonbills, curlews, moorhens, teal, mallards, large flocks of lapwings, knots, dunlins and redshanks and a couple of marsh harriers. We regularly see short eared owls, barn owls and hen harriers hunting on the marsh in the winter months. In the evenings I regularly meet birders with their large lenses, waiting for the bitterns to come in to roost.

The Wirral Way is an old disused railway track which has been converted into a walking and cycling track running the length of the Wirral peninsula. It runs parallel to the marsh at Parkgate and is the best place to see many of the woodland birds in the area. I regularly see woodpeckers, nuthatches, blue jays, goldcrests, goldfinches, chaffinches, greenfinches and redwings. All the usual garden birds: blackbirds, robins, wrens, dunlins, sparrows and the full range of tits: blue, great, coal and long tailed tits are plentiful. On Tuesday this week we came across a sparrow hawk sitting on a garden fence no more than 20 steps away.

The RSPB Burtonmere reserve in Burton is 5 miles away, and has an even wider range of birds. My favourites are the large numbers of avocets that arrive for the summer, the curlews, green woodpeckers and kingfishers. In the spring they close off sections of the reserve to protect the egret and heron nests during the breeding season and they have some good hides to use in the colder winter months, or when the cold winds come in. There are large reed bed habitats for warblers - we often see kingfishers there, and woods that are covered in bluebells in April / May. My favourite time to go is the early spring before the trees get their canopy of leaves, making the birds more easily visible.

This combination of beautiful wetland habitat and the wooded Wirral Way make it a great area for walking and birdwatching. It is useful to always have binoculars at hand, whether you are out walking or just in the garden. Bird spotting while out walking the dogs is one of my favourite parts of the day.