It was an amazing scene at West Kirby, with snow and ice on the beach stretching almost all the way to the island, and you could see where the tide had reached because of the depth of the snow (see the left hand photo of West Kirby shore, looking towards Red Rocks, below).
Often when I cross to Hilbre I'm worried about slipping on seaweed covered rocks, but today I was slipping on ice covered beach! Even the pond on the island was completely frozen.
There were good numbers of birds on the island, especially thrushes, with about 25 Fieldfare, 20 Redwings, 10 Song Thurshes and 5 Blackbirds. Other displaced birds included Snipe and Woodcock. The wintering Rock Pipit was still present at the north end, and maybe a second bird as well.
Star bird of the day for me was a female or immature Velvet Scoter off the north end for its second day. Also on the sea, a few Common Scoter, Red-breasted Mergansers.
Overhead, 35 Pink-footed Geese flew north east, and about 70 Lapwings headed in the opposite direction. Surprisingly, I only saw 2 Pale-bellied Brents and one Purple Sandpiper.
These kind of days are amongst the most beautiful if the year, and almost make up for the chaos of the last week!
Velvet Scoter: Merseyside 246
West Kirby shore looking towards Red Rocks, Hoylake.
Hilbre from Little Eye
The pond on Hilbre
The north end.
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