As the chilly days of spring move closer to the warmer summer, the plant life around the reserve has started to flourish. Through the reserve many of our late spring plants are starting to flower. The merse is starting to take on a pink hue as the Sea Pink (Thrift) has burst into flower covering many areas of the short grassland. This Pink is occasionally broken up by splashes of white, this is scurvygrass. However, not all the plants are this noticeable, a closer look at the merse will reveal other gems such as Sea Milkwort and less colourful but equally important to the habitat Sea Plantain. As the summer progresses other species will come apparent giving the merse a changing pallet across the seasons.
Although the vast numbers of geese that congregate on the merse over the winter have gone north, there is still lots to look out for. The migration is just about at an end by one of the last species moving though the reserve is the Spotted Flycatcher. This week there was one doing the typical flycatcher behaviour from the tree adjacent to the merse. The breeding cycles of many species is now in full flow and young are starting to appear and being fed by their parents. If you are lucky, you may see newly fledged Skylark and Meadow Pipit flitting around the grassland and merse taking their first flights or an Osprey hunting over the bay looking for their family’s next meal.
All this data is important and allows us to assess the management on the reserve to see if it is working. We are always very pleased to collect records for the reserve so if you come for a visit, please let us know what you see. You can email us on crookofbaldoon@rspb.org.uk and you do not need to be a birder all records are important plants, insects etc thanks.