The seasons are changing and there’s a chill in the air. The trees on the reserve are slowly turning from bright green to brown, red and orange before they tumble to the ground.
Probably our most exciting sighting over the past fortnight is a juvenile marsh harrier, which first appeared on Friday 16th and has been seen almost every day since! The marsh harrier is a large bird of prey, similar in size to a buzzard. This individual has been distinguished as a juvenile by its very dark, chocolaty brown plumage, and the pale colour on the head. An adult female bird would have pale patches of plumage along the leading edges of the wings, and would also be displaying signs of feather moult at this time of year. The marsh harrier is an amber list species with an estimated UK population of 320 – 380 pairs. A very scarce sighting here at the reserve, it has been very exciting for staff and visitors alike to see.
Juvenile marsh harrier
To add to the excitement, we were watching the juvenile marsh harrier from the visitor centre on Sunday 25th, when suddenly a ringtail hen harrier appeared and began to mob the marsh harrier! It was absolutely fantastic to see both birds at once, especially in the sunshine, their plumage so clearly defined.
A flock of 12 golden plover were spotted flying over the reserve on Wednesday 28th – a very scarce sighting for the reserve. Individual birds can also sometimes be spotted within flocks of lapwing, so at this time of year it is also worth having an extra look. Over the past week the meadow has been covered with dozens of feeding snipe, and a jack snipe has also been spotted twice.
Juvenile/winter plumage golden plumage
Up to 3 nuthatches are still visiting the feeders along the Aird Meadow trail daily. Stand by the screen for a few minutes and your patience will almost always be rewarded with a sighting of these lovely blue-grey birds. Until a few months ago, this traditionally English species had only been recorded a handful of times on the reserve, but we are thrilled to now seemingly have a resident family. Nuthatches are continuing to move north and spread through south and central Scotland, so hopefully we will see more in the area in the future.
Nuthatch
A kingfisher has been sighted at the pond two times over the past fortnight. Generally they are seen merely as a flash of bright blue plumage as they fly rapidly along the water channel, but they have been spotted sitting on specially-made kingfisher perches at the edge of our pond and water channels.
As winter approaches the number of birds on the reserve will continue to grow. Already in the past week, many wigeon, tufted duck and teal have been recorded on the Barr Loch, along with several sightings of gadwall and shoveler, and 1 pintail. Three scaup have also been recorded on Castle Semple Loch in recent days. As we enter October, many more water birds should begin arriving at the reserve, so wrap up warm and head out to see what you can see!
Gadwall (male)
Claire & Regina