First trip to Hilbre of 2019

An early morning start saw us arriving at the Obs just around dawn. With the high tide just after 11 am there was time for a walk around the island before a good cooked breakfast. Initially we only found 5 Purple Sandpipers feeding at the north end but as the tide rose and they went to roost they were joined by two more. The bird in the video below spent a lot of time preening before settling down to roost.



Two Eider loafed around before settling to roost on Middle Eye. One has a damaged wing and has been around for awhile but the other is uninjured.

The sea was quite quiet with only 3 Red-throated Divers and 27 Great-crested grebes being seen along with around 300 Common Scoter.

Several Song Thrushes have been overwintering on the island and both were caught in the newton heligoland trap The first had originally been ringed on Hilbre on the 1st December 20128 but the 2nd was a new bird. We also caught a female Blackbird and these represented the first two birds of the new year to be ringed on Hilbre. Both first winter birds.

Heres to another successful year for Hilbre Bird Observatory and its small band of dedicated volunteers.