The Morning Walk - West Kirby Marine Lake and Hilbre.
West Kirby Marine Lake at the Start of the walk,
Sailing isn't easy today on West Kirby Marine Lake today.
Waves crashing over the walkway at West Kirby Marine Lake.
Middle Eye and Hilbre ahead.
Brent geese between Middle Eye and Hilbre.
Brent geese between Middle Eye and Hilbre.
One of the Grey seals seen near Hilbre today.
A Gilliemot just off Hilbre.
A Eurasian curlew on the shore on the east side of Hilbre.
One of seven Little egrets seen on the shore on the east side of Hilbre.
Sand storm on the way back from Little Eye.
Our sheltered lunch spot in Victoria Park, West Kirby.
Walk Stats:
Distance: 5.4 miles. Climb: 508'.
Time: 2 hours 23 minutes. On the move walking average: 2.7 m.p.h. Overall walking average: 2.3 m.p.h.
Temperature: 11.2 Celsius.
Beafort Wind Force: Max 4 Moderate Breeze on the way back from Hilbre.
Group: Martyn, Roger and Mike.
We arrive at the Marine Lake at West Kirby, unsure as to when the rain would arrive and how strong the wind would be.
The tide was far enough out for us to include Hilbre on our route after walking around the Marine Lake. As far as we could see, only one other person had set off for Hilbre before us.
Hilbre and the surrounding shore line provided us with some good bird spotting and several sightings of Grey seals quite close.
Birds see on this part of the walk included: great cormorantt, Common redshank, Oustercatcher, Great cormorant, Dunlin, Brent goose, Eurasian curlew, Great crested grebe, Herring gull, Great black back gull, Great cormorant, Shelduck and Lttle egret.
Th way back from Little Eye to West Kirby was quite challenging, with the wind being at its strongest and blowing the sand, creating a sort of sand storm that peppered our legs fro the side.
It was still pretty windy when we reached the Parade at West Kirby, so we headed to Victoria Park and took advantage of one of the superb shelters there for lunch.
Margaret provided us with some of her wonderful Welsh cakes. I would have liked to take some home (as Mike did), but unfortunately I didn't have a food box to put them in, so I just had to eat them all! Thank you Margaret.
The Afternoon Walk - Grange Hill and Caldy Hill.
The Ashton Park entrance from the Wirral Way.
At the War Memorial on Grange Hill.
Middle Eye and Hilbre from Grange Hill.
West Kirby Marine Lake ahead - the last leg of the walk.
Walk stats:
Distance: 4.1 miles. Climb: 248'.
Time: 1 hour 47 minutes. On th move walking average: 2.5 m.p. h. Overall walk average: 2.2 m.p.h.
Group: Martyn, Roger and Mike.
Our afternoon walk allowed us to explore one or two paths that I hadn't used before, firstly through Ashton Park and using the Wirral Way northward to the main road and secondly using a footpath on the west side of Grange Hill to link in with the main pth leading to the War Memorial and trig point.
At the Beacon, we decided to take the path across Caldy Hill and eventually dropping down into Caldy and onto the Wirral Way.
Birds seen on ths part of the walk included: Mallard, Coot, Moorhen, Feral pigeon and Black billed magpie.
Alhough we were sheltered from any breeze on most of the afternoon walk, when we reached the more exposed section of the coast, it had died down considerably. Although dampness was ever with us in the afternoon, the torrential rain forecast never materialised.
An enjoyable walk, worthy of being celebrated at the Wheatsheaf at Raby, where the warm stove welcomed us and we enjoyed a pint of Brimstage's Trapper's Hat.
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