What a summer it's turning out to be - not that you'd think it has been summer recently with our lovely Scottish weather!
Half the time, the volunteers and myself are still wrapped up in our winter gear and waterproofs thanks to all the wind and rain! The rain hasn't helped much with the water levels. The water levels are still fairly high for this time of the year in comparison to previous years. Although I don't think the wildfowl are complaining too much - unlike me!
Every day a bird count becomes that little bit trickier - especially with the mallard; when you think you've counted them all, a whole load more come gushing out from behind the willows in the far right hand corner of the East end of the reserve. As if it wasn't bad enough all the mallard, gadwall and wigeon are going through eclipse! Life's not easy for a reserve warden/volunteer/birdwatcher. Good job for the easily spotted tufted ducks.
However now that summer is in full swing, I think it's safe to say that the breeding season is slowly coming to a close. Every now and then we still have a surprise duckling or two with some female mallard, but the mute swan cygnets (1 pair has two cygnets at Gullery, 1 pair has 4 cygnets at East) are all a fair size and lapwing/oystercatchers have grouped back together (in groups of 8-15) rather than stay in their pairings. The West end of the reserve is now fully deserted, with only the Highland coos around to see.
There's no news on how successful the marsh harriers have been in their breeding attempt. But as they say no news is good news. The pair are still around, however, and food passes along with the female taking food directly back to the nest (something she would not do if she didn't have chicks) makes us think it may be a positive outcome. For now, though, it's still a bit of a waiting game.
When there's not much to see (apart from mallard) on the loch, there's plenty to see along the paths - every few steps you take and you're likely to see either one or all of the following: blackcap, willow warbler, chaffinch, bullfunch, spotted flycatcher, song thrush, blue tit, great tit, coal tit and robin. One visitor has even reported a hawfinch at the rowan tree on the corner before East hide!