RSPB Scotland Loch Leven's writer in residence Anita John brings us news from the reserve along with wildlife sightings and upcoming events. Anita is a poet and author who is helping to gather stories of the reserve in 2017 as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations.
Thanks to our fabulous volunteers there have been two exciting developments at RSPB Scotland Loch Leven this week. The first is the building and installation of a new raft which will benefit nesting birds, and black headed gulls in particular. The number of black headed gulls breeding at Loch Leven has dropped over the years and it's hoped this new habitat will encourage more of them to breed successfully. They are currently classed as an amber list species and considered a conservation priority.
The floating raft was placed in situ on Wednesday and filled with gravel, rushes and even a decoy clay gull to encourage nesting birds to visit and settle. It can be seen to the left of the Carden Hide, looking so natural you would never guess that it was new.
The second exciting development is a wonderful new wildlife sightings board created and carved by our talented volunteer, Ken Brown. The board is a great place for visitors to record the wildlife they've seen at Loch Leven, and to contribute to the RSPB'S weekly records. You can see from the list below how varied this week's sightings have been, including roe deer down at the Carden Hide! Other highlights have included flocks of up to 60 curlews over the wetlands, 200 plus tufted ducks in Vane Bay and close to 70 teals in Vane Bay and on the loch. There have also been wigeons, goosanders, great crested grebes, pintails, lapwings, skylarks and smews. And the little egret seems content to stay at Loch Leven for the time being and can be seen most days near the Carden Hide. Scan the list below and see what other species you can find!
Or, even better, come along to the Beginner's Birdwatching Walk scheduled for Sunday 19 February. Expert birdwatcher Scott Patterson (seen below with Alice O'Rourke) will help visitors spot and identify a wide range of birds to be found on the reserve. A great activity for half-term and there are still a few spaces available. "I can't believe how many birds there are here!" one family announced, spellbound by the high-level chorus at the entrance to the reserve. And that was before they had even visited the hides!
Thanks are also due to our volunteers for helping with the pond dipping activity yesterday which brought the generations together, both young and old. As well as getting messy, the youngsters had fun discovering fresh water shrimps and back swimmers in their samples of water taken from the depths of the pond. Amazing how much concentration it takes to catch a small creature with a spoon! They were challenged to find out if the ponds are ready for dipping yet, perhaps it's still a bit cold but spring is most definitely on the way...
Photo credits: Raft Installation (Anna Jemmett); Wildlife Sightings (Anita John); Smew (Ted Logan), Pond Dipping (Andy Hay rspb-images.com);