Nigg Bay is an incredible place with habitats supporting thousands of wintering ducks and waders. In this blog, RSPB Scotland’s Allie McGregor reflects on the conservation efforts that have made this reserve a wildlife haven.
Spotlight on Nigg Bay
RSPB Scotland’s Nigg Bay reserve lies on the North-East coast of the Cromarty Firth, just across form another RSPB reserve, Udale Bay. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Protection Area for birds (SPA) and a RAMSAR wetland of international importance. More than a third of saltmarsh at Nigg Bay was lost between 1946 and 1997, and 93 hectares of mudflats were reclaimed for development in the 1970s. Saltmarsh is incredibly important habitat not only for supporting biodiversity, but also as it can store carbon and act as a natural sea defence. In 2003, RSPB Scotland undertook a pioneering project which has been one of our most important pieces of work at Nigg Bay and was one of the first of its kind in Scotland.
The coastal realignment project aimed to recreate intertidal habitats, address past losses and even combat future losses that might be caused by rising sea levels or other climate change impacts. This involved breaching part of the sea wall to flood a field behind it. In February 2003 two 20-metre breaches were made and the sea and field reconnected for the first time since the 50s. Following this piece of work, the habitat was able to naturally redevelop.
The impact of the project has been remarkable. Key plants and invertebrates have colonised the saltmarshes even more quickly than expected, including sea aster and glasswort which thrive on the reserve. An amazing array of birds such as bar-tailed godwits, lapwing and wigeon can be found there.
The reserve is brimming with life throughout all seasons. At this time of year birdsong from an array of waders, such as the iconic pee-wit of the lapwing, rings out across the saltmarsh. In spring you might catch the stunning breeding display of the lapwing, and the arrival of oystercatchers, snipe, and redshanks. Throughout the summer months you will catch sight of these species and other occasional visitors such as curlew feasting on the insect buffet that reveals itself as the tide moves out.
Bar tailed godwits wading
As colder weather sets in so does a flurry of wonderful wintering birds. Pink-footed geese make the journey to the bay all the way from Iceland. Between October and March, the reserve is bursting with wading birds and wildfowl, such as bar-tailed godwits, knots, pink-footed geese and pintail, feeding and roosting on the mudflats, moving with the tide in and out of the bay. Nigg Bay is internationally important for wintering birds.
Nigg bay scrape
Since 2017 our reserve also has a ‘scrape’ thanks to a project funded by the Landfill Communities Fund. The scrape attracts birds to come feed where even more of our visitors can see them without causing a disturbance by widening and re-profiling an existing pond close to the hide to produce as much invertebrate friendly mud as possible.
Nigg Bay is an incredible example of what we can do to protect our nature. The work began nearly two decades ago, and the benefits are more and more evident and will continue to have an impact for many years into the future. Nature-based solutions are a key tool in the battle to protect our climate and we hope our Nigg Bay projects and the impact they have had will inspire more conservation work that contributes to protecting Scotland’s environment – we’ve already had projects like Skinflats following in their footsteps!