We are celebrating our 40th birthday this month! The RSPB established the reserve here in 1974 and have been protecting homes for wildlife ever since then. With Springwatch well under way at RSPB Minsmere it gives us the chance to highlight the wonderful wildlife that we have all over the country. Nature reserves are a great place to learn more about nature on our doorstep and even give you the opportunity to see something new. If you would like to join in our birthday celebrations, then come along to our party on Saturday 14 June (12-3). There will be everything you’d expect at a birthday party including cake, face painting, games and even a magician. As well as that, all our regular activities such as pond dipping, are free all day! Whether you’re new to the reserve or have been coming here for years, we would love to see you there!
The visitor centre was built in the late 1970’s. Back then, water birds were best seen from the Aird Meadow trail. Last years habitat work has brought wildlife much closer and has already been delighting us with close up views of the reserves wildlife. This work started the process of restoring much of the reserve's wetland system to how it would have been before agricultural pressures led to dramatic changes in this landscape. We have future plans for both the reserve and a new, improved visitor centre, ultimately creating a perfect home for Scotland's nature.
Visitor centre in the 1970s
Forty years ago, great spotted woodpeckers were a rare sight at the reserve. Today, they are a regular feature at our feeders. Throughout the country, their numbers have grown since the 1970s. This striking woodpecker is one of our special birthday Lochwinnoch pin badges! Together with an otter pin badge, they will be launched at our 40th birthday party.
Great spotted woodpecker by Zul Bhatia
Walking along the woodland trails at this time it would be difficult not to spot a blue tit or great tit nipping in and out of one of our many nest boxes. Starlings are also nesting along the trails and quite a special great spotted woodpecker has been raising young, high up in one of our trees. The chicks from the woodpecker nest have fledged now but not before we were able to watch the male and female popping in and out of the hole and listening to the noisy chicks inside. A swallow has also very kindly decided to call the top of our tower home. We are able to get amazing close up views of the parents swooping in and out of the nest.
Blue tit juvenile by Ray Kennedy (rspb-images.com)
Cue the oooooo’s and ahhhh’s for the ducklings and cygnets that have been seen plodding all over the reserve. Our channel in the Aird Meadow has been host to a mute swans nest and just a few days ago we were delighted to see three healthy (and very cute) cygnets swimming along it with their parents. They are now regular visitors up to the windows of the visitor centre and are quite happy to lounge around next to the small pond there for hours.
Some other splendid summertime sightings include a white throat on 19 and 30 May and a garden warbler on 3 May. The distinctive call of a water rail was heard from the Dubbs Water Trail on 19 May, an osprey was seen flying over Barr Loch on the 11, a greenshank flew overhead on 5 May and a scaup was recorded on Castle Semple Loch on the 1. A pair of garganeys were also showing brilliantly in the Lochall Channels, in front of the visitor centre, from 1 to 8 May. They even returned on the 24 for a couple days before disappearing again so we are hoping they will return soon. Garganeys are quite secretive and scarce ducks so we were very lucky to get such amazing views of them from the visitor centre.
Garganey by Mike Langman (rspb-images.com)
A special sighting this month and a first for the year was a spotted flycatcher along the Aird Meadow trail on 27 May. Flycatcher by name, flycatcher by nature. These small brownish birds are experts at catching flying insects. They dart out from high perches, catch the insect in the air and then return to the same spot on the perch very quickly.
Spotted flycatcher by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Here’s to another 40 years (and more) at RSPB Lochwinnoch!
Emma