I happened to be visiting my daughter in Lancashire when a Pied Wheatear was reported at Meols on the Wirral Peninsula in Cheshire (apparently first seen there on 5th Nov). I was busy on 6th and 7th but managed to find a clear spot on 8th. So a drive on an hour and a half through the outskirts of Liverpool and through one of the tunnels under the Mersey and I was almost there.
The bird was easy to find as a group of birders were stood around on the sea front. I thought that the bird had disappeared but they were grouped around the bird on the sea wall. I joined the group and the bird just sat on the wall ignoring the birders and occasionally taking a mealworm that someone had put in place. At one time the bird flew over the sea wall and sat in the end of some sort of drainage pipe. It was suggested that the bird might have roosted here. While I was there the bird was unable to go onto the beach as it was high tide.
This was both a UK and a Worldwide tick for me, so well worth the trip.
The Pied Wheatear twitch.About 20 birders were there much of the time I was there. The bird can just be seen on the wall.
Pied Wheatear - A first winter male.
The Pied Wheatear sat in this drainage pipe for about five minutes. A possible roost site.
A brief video of the Pied Wheatear
Good numbers of waders were present, initially fairly close in but soon flying further away as the tide went out. These included good numbers of Oystercatcher, Redshank, Dunlin, plus those below.
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