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.
The wind and the curlew's whaup, the song of skylarks and the kleep of oystercatchers could all be heard at RSPB Scotland Loch Leven this morning, as well as the lapwings' wonderful "peewit." It was a wild and blustery day. Clouds scudded across the sky and the wind raced across the loch, stirring up wild horses as both the birds and I did battle with the strong westerly!
Lots of wildfowl sought refuge among the relative calm of the wetlands. From the Gillman Hide, mallards and coots sheltered close in to the bullrushes. A single mute swan also took refuge here, its orange and black beak strikingly beautiful, the black, fleshy knob at the base of the bill hanging down like a big fat seed pod.
From the Carden Hide groups of pintails, potchards, goldeneyes, coots, mallards, gadwalls and teals could be seen sheltering, often in pairs.
It was lovely too to see the first redshank return to the reserve and, for me, the first pied wagtail of the year.
The geese are still here! This week all three species of geese have been seen at the reserve, including 70 pink-footed geese on the wetlands. As I watched from the Carden Hide small groups of greylag geese flew in to join the curlews and lapwings feeding and sheltering from the wind.
It's interesting how quickly you can identify birds from their flight patterns. A flock of something came in towards the Waterson Hide from St Serf's Island. At a distance I thought perhaps they were gulls but their flight pattern was too close, almost like that of thrushes but these were much bigger birds. They could only be lapwings. They came in close over the water, hugging the waves - surprising for birds which are generally considered to be high, airborne acrobats. Once they reached the wetlands their flight became soft and laborious, like giant moths, making slow headway into the wind. On arrival they began their courtship dance and flight displays - always a sight worth seeing!
Spring has also brought a flush of woodland birds to the garden feeders, including flocks of goldfinches, siskins, bramblings and tree sparrows. This is in addition to the usual chaffinches, blue tits, great tits, coal tits and hedge sparrows!
As Spring arrives RSPB Loch Leven is also pleased to announce its exciting new curriculum-linked programme for schools. From 1st April 2017 - in association with Aldi - it is offering 2,000 nursery and primary school children the opportunity to benefit from RSPB-led visits to the reserve, completely free of charge. Supermarket chain Aldi is donating all revenue from the sale of their single use carrier bags to facilitate this. Visits can include activities such as mini-beast hunting, pond-dipping, seasons and the senses and an exploration of woodland or wetland birds. Schools can book now for visits from 1st April (please note transport costs are not included).
For more information visit here.
Come along and you may be lucky enough to see some or all of the birds mentioned above and you will almost certainly get to see our resident red squirrels. Or perhaps even my favourite bird of the month - the goldfinch!
Photo credits: all photos courtesy of Alex Gilfillan