It's a bit of a driech day here, so I thought I would take the time to update you on what's been happening here at Loch Leven while I'm sitting inside keeping warm with a cuppa & one of Hazel's home made cakes..
Firstly, thank you to everyone who came along to our very first open day on Sunday, I hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did! We had nearly 500 visitors, all taking part in everything from pond dipping to bushcraft, and bug hunts to Springwatch style nestbox walks. It was great to see so many families on the reserve enjoying themselves, especially seeing the little ones getting stuck into nature - peering into ponds and staring at cygnets, and loving every minute of it!
On the bird front, Vicky and Leon were out doing the monthly wetland bird (webs) count on Monday; lots of gadwall, tufted duck,shelduck and lapwing around along with a few wigeon, shoveler, a pair of redshank, oystercatcher and moorhen (moorhen are nesting infront of the Gilman Hide, great views! There were 4 great crested grebes on the loch too, and 2 little grebe. Along with the hundreds of greylag geese & their goslings, there were also 13 Barnacle geese on St Serfs island and 7 Canada geese on the loch.
Highlight of the week is a tough one to call... It's a toss up between stripy little super cute lapwing chicks running around on the island infront of the Carden Hide, and a water rail! The water rail was also heard (but not seen) down at the Carden, so keep your eyes peeled if you're visiting! There are still black headed gulls nesting on the Carden island at the moment, and the common sandpipers have been seen down there this week too.
The lapwing chicks have been entertaining visitors to the Carden Hide all week, so close that people were able to see them with the naked eye. In other lapwing news, Vicky has just spotted another new nest this morning, with previous nestlings doing well & some having fledged. Warden Vicky says "I'm very excited." So there you go!
PS. Colin & Vix currently have 500ml bird cakes reduced from £3.49 to £1.74 in the shop. They come in 2 tasty flavours: chopped peanuts & raisins, and chopped peanuts & insects! Offer ends next Tuesday so get em quick!