Tis the season to be jolly and all… so at RSPB Loch of Strathbeg we have kicked off December with lots of Christmassy events and activities to get us in the mood…
On the 1st of December, we started as we meant to go on with a special Christmas Goosewatch. We invited people to come and join us to watch the spectacle of the Pink-Footed Geese returning to roost on the loch at dusk. Lots of people turned up and we enjoyed some mulled wine (spiced berry cordial for the kids!), mince pies and clementines in the visitors centre before heading out on a walk to Tower Pool Hide to see some skeins (the name for the flying formations of geese) coming in to roost. The reserve had a lovely serene, crisp feeling and beautiful skies. To add to the Christmassy feel – the Christmas lights were turned on in the village of Crimond, beside the reserve, and all the locals were out in force to enjoy some carol singing from the Salvation Army and home-made soup (some made by my own fair hands!).
Last week, to continue the festivities we had our local Fraserburgh RSPB Wildlife Explorers group at the loch for their Christmas party. We had lots of fun trying to sculpt some terns out of air-dry clay. Apart from the obvious enjoyment of getting our hands messy, the decoys will actually serve an important purpose on the reserve; the wardening team have been working hard to improve the island in front of the visitors to encourage terns to breed there next year and a vital part of that is attracting them down to the island in the first place. Once our clay models are dried, they will be painted to look like terns (we had one model already made – see photos below) and placed on the island in the hope that some real birds take an interest in the island for breeding. We finished the day by decorating our Christmas tree, playing some games and consuming some obligatory mince pies!
To finish off the weekend, on Sunday we had a ‘Winter Wonderland Workshop’ where we made willow lanterns and Christmas bird feeders. We had expert help on-hand from the Aberdeenshire Rangers Council Service to make the willow lanterns. This involves creating a willow structure, any shape you want, and covering it with wet-strength tissue paper and a glue mix. Once dried the lanterns are lit up with glow-sticks or electronic tea lights. We had lots of people turn up to the two sessions and some marvellous creations. As the lanterns were drying we took some time to make some winter bird feeders – made with lard, seed mix, holly berries, dried oats and fruit. I often get asked about what birds can and can’t eat and when to feed them – if you would like to know more about this the RSPB have lots of advice about feeding birds that you can read-up on here. Some people made big tubs to take home and hang out in their gardens and others made some extra-Christmassy pine-cone feeders. The whole day was fun-filled, messy and very Christmassy.
Thank you to Jim Lister our Wildlife Explorers leader, Jodie Rhodes from the Aberdeenshire Council Rangers Service, the team at Loch of Strathbeg and everyone else who came along to help out and join in with the festivities!
MERRY CHRISTMAS (Almost!!)
Amy Telford, Community Ranger
Amy Telford, Community Engagement Officer (RSPB Scotland Loch Lomond)