RSPB Mersehead Recent Sightings 21st – 27th July 2018
We were joined by the Kirkcudbrightshire vice-county plant recorder this week and searched the merse for the presence of the regionally scarce species listed on the reserve. The extremely beautiful metallic blue Sea Holly can only be found on a handful of sites along the Dumfries & Galloway coast and was very popular with the Six-spot Burnt Moth this week. The sprawling Sea Bindweed has large pink petals which have 5 white stripes radiating out from the centre and is generally restricted to growing on sand dunes where the spreading rhizomes can help to stabilise the sand. Found along the edge of the sand dunes, the Isle of Man Cabbage is endemic to the British Isles, endangered and nationally scarce which means the species is only found in 16-100 different kilometre grid-squares. Another nationally scarce species is Sea Spurge. From a distance, it appears as if the merse is covered in a hazy purple mist, so dense is the Common Sea-lavender. Other common saltmarsh species recorded on the day included Sea Blight, Sea Aster, Sea Arrowgrass, Sea Plantain, Sea Campion and Sea Sandwort.
Sea Holly. Photo credit: R.Flavelle
Common Sea-lavender. Photo credit: R.Flavelle
The continuing hot and dry weather means that the wetlands at Mersehead are now completely dry with areas of mud starting to crack. This is not a negative and will result in some superb habitat for the returning wintering wildfowl in September when the water levels start to raise again. It also allows us to access areas of the wetlands we cannot get to very often with machinery. Too much rush is detrimental to breeding waders so in the next few weeks we will be cutting the rush and actively managing the habitat. Our 4-legged mowers, the cattle, are also able to move across a wider area of the wetlands and there are no concerns about them becoming stuck in soft mud. We are keeping a close eye on the water troughs at the moment as the cattle are understandably extremely thirsty and have been drinking the trough dry. In one field we have had to install a second trough to ensure the herd has enough to drink.
The hot weather has been perfect for a butterfly survey with 9 species recorded on this week’s transect; Green-veined White, Small White, Small Copper, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Meadow Brown and Ringlet. The Garden Moth Scheme this week recorded 62 moths from 26 species.
Ghost Moth. Photo credit: R.Flavelle
The Spotted Flycatcher is remaining very active in the woodland and providing good views and Great Spotted Woodpecker has been present. An unusual sighting for Mersehead is a Nuthatch as the reserve does not have enough woodland habitat and adult birds seldom travel far from the woodland where they hatched. Yellowhammer can be heard singing constantly down Rainbow lane. Our On the Night Watch event last Saturday night was well attended. The inaudible sound of Noctule and Pipistrelle bats were heard using bat detectors and the crepuscular and nocturnal wildlife of Mersehead came alive through the experience of using thermal image equipment.
Nuthatch. Photo Credit: Grahame Madge (rspb-images.com)
The next On the Night Watch events will take place on 9th & 18th August. If you’d like to see how we attract nature throughout the seasons and get to discover some of our wildlife close-up, then get in touch to take part in one of the Mersehead Discovery Walks.
And for anyone looking to visit the reserve with young family, our self-lead Nature Discovery wild challenges are taking place throughout summer. If visiting the reserve with young children ask for a nature discovery pack at the visitor centre, to enhance your family’s visit.
For more details, check online at https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events/find-a-reserve/reserves-a-z/events.aspx?reserve=Mersehead
Rowena Flavelle, Warden