The past few days on the reserve have felt more like December than the middle of March. We've had bitter winds and driving snow (not much on the ground but that's because it's mostly been blowing horizontally, gravity hasn't really stood a chance) and unfortunately the forecast doesn't seem to be getting much better any time soon. The cold temperatures have bought quite a bit of our resident wildlife out into the open, taking advantage of any break in the weather to get out and hunt for food. The feeders by Willow Hide have been heaving with Goldfinch, Badgers have been out and about on the airfield and there's been a group of Roe Deer regularly wandering by the entrance track and out in the marsh. The visitor centre Stoat has been showing off as well, it's just starting to shed its ermine and is gradually moulting back to its summery red-brown (although it seems to have kept a patch of white on its nose...). We've also had a possible Lesser Scaup (a rare North American duck) at the South End of the Loch, although the weather and the general rubbish visibility has made tracking it down to confirm the ID almost impossible.
The wardens and volunteers have been out despite the weather, putting up a new gate and clearing some old pens and fencing. They've spent much of today out surveying the fields for goose droppings. Sounds a bit bizarre but it's one of the ways of seeing how much the geese are using our grass fields during the day. Looking for droppings rather than counting feeding flocks gives a much better picture of where they geese have been throughout the whole day, especially since geese will never appear in the field you're surveying when you're actually surveying it. Each goose poos roughly six times an hour (there's a goose fact for the day!) so by counting the droppings, you can also work out how long the geese are using the fields for and which fields they're using the most. Quite logical when you think about it...
If you're braving the weather to visit this weekend, we've got the Fraserburgh Wildlife Explorers in on Saturday morning for a Spring Easter Egg hunt. If you want to go out but don't fancy a walk, it's the annual Grampian Birders Night at the Ythan Hotel at Newburgh, starting at 7pm. There's talks, a quiz, beer (very important) and the chance to have a chat with lots of local wildlife enthusiasts about where to go and what to see in the local area. I'll also be giving a talk on the return of the Osprey to England & Wales, and the work of Rutland Ospreys and the Dyfi Osprey Project tracking down Ospreys in West Africa. Look forward to seeing some of you there!