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Mersehead
RSPB Mershead Blog 4th - 8th November 2024
These gloomy days won't be enough to stop us counting! The overcast weather this week brings on the season for wellies and woolly hats atop the high sand dunes as we continue to carry out bird count surveys. This Monday we completed a Barnacle goose count across Mersehead reserve with a slightly lower than average total of 3950 individuals, including the five leucistic barnacle geese featured in last week's blog. It is plausible that, the geese are eating up to 800 blades of grass a minute, they're moving around the local area to find more lush feeding pastures. However, there is no doubt these geese will remain in their thousands at Mersehead until the winter months are over, so there is still plenty of time to come and witness the spectacle for yourself! 
Barnacle geese taking flight over the fields. Photo credit: Z.Phillips
We have also been counting over at Kirkconnell along the river Nith this week, it was wonderful to see so many Lapwing in flight, and to end the count with a flock of 200 Pintail. Results for the wetland bird survey carried out at Kirkconnell on Wednesday are below. 
Species Count Species Count
Pink footed goose 1 Lapwing 458
Barnacle goose 1369 Grey Herron 2
Shelduck 7 Little Egret 5
Wigeon 530 Cormorant 7
Teal 89 Goosander 1
Curlew 10 Redshank 9
Mallard 179 Pintail 205

After two tiring days of strimming, the woodland path is looking neat and tidy. A huge thank you is in order to our loyal weekly volunteers who got involved with the tedious task of weeding the long path, but its not finished yet! 

Our weekly volunteers walking along the freshly weeded woodland path. Photo credit: F.Sanders 
We'll miss being watched over by our curious friends as most of the Belted Galloways have now been taken off the reserve for the winter.
Belted Galloway cow and calf. Photo credit: F.Sanders
Fieldfares and Redwings have now been sighted so be sure to keep a look out, particularly while driving down the road into the reserve and walking along the path to Bruaich hide, as this is where they have been seen feeding on the berries of the hedgerows!

Zoe Phillips, Residential Volunteer 

Our next Forrest School will be on Sunday 24th November. Booking is essential so please email Mersehead@rspb.org.uk to secure your place. Please note that there will be no Forest School in December. Forrest School aims to cultivate a learning environment in tune with nature, promoting new skills, confidence, self-esteem, and team building while participants take part in fun outdoor activities. 

At Mersehead you will find the RSPB’s only self-catering holiday cottages - Barnacle and Shelduck. Available dates are currently going quickly, so please follow the links to book your next holiday.

 *Flooding - Please note that Mersehead nature reserve is prone to flooding during periods of high rainfall and/or strong winds and tidal surges. To avoid disappointment at these times, please contact the reserve in advance of your visit by email in the first instance at mersehead@rspb.org.uk or check the RSPB Dumfries and Galloway Facebook Page for daily updates.