RSPB Mersehead Blog 12th-18th November 2022
After all the rain last week it was nice to have some fine weather for our wetland bird surveys (WeBS) at Kirconnell on Saturday and Mersehead on Monday. One of the highlights at Kirconnell was the winter’s first count of Goldeneye, while at Mershead the wetlands are looking fantastic, especially from Bruaich hide where over 700 Teal, 250 Lapwing, 57 Pintail, 330 Wigeon and 80 Shoveler were counted during Monday’s survey. It was also great to spot a Red Kite while doing the survey - but not so great that it was putting up the Barnacle Geese and making them a challenge to count!
The results of the two surveys are shown in the table below.
Mersehead
Kirconnell
Species
Reserve Total
Mute swan
1
Whooper swan
Pink-footed goose
2
Barnacle goose
1810
Greylag goose
55
Wigeon
585
Canada goose
11
Teal
465
5233
Mallard
67
Shelduck
3
Goldeneye
330
Goosander
27
746
Cormorant
39
Little Egret
5
Pintail
57
Grey Heron
Shoveler
81
Oystercatcher
Little Grebe
Lapwing
248
166
Curlew
75
Redshank
197
Moorhen
Total individuals
3488
332
Total species
14
Grey plover
34
250
Dunlin
2720
Snipe
9
141
Bar-tailed godwit
8
10222
22
Barnacle geese at sunset over Mersehead. Photo credit S. Doyle
The lovely weekend weather was also a bonus for the Forest School introduction workshop held at Mersehead on Saturday. The event was a great success with lots of outdoors fun had by those taking part in fire lighting, leaf identification and other nature-themed activities. Check out below for more details on our second forest school workshop happening on the 10th December.
While the warm weather may not have been feeling too November-like, there is no doubt that autumn is progressing as evenings get darker and the trees continue to look more and more bare. There is still lots of colour about though, with leaves carpeting the ground and changing colour on the trees and berries brightening up the hedgerows. Keep an eye out for the haws (hawthorn), rosehips, sloes (blackthorn), and holly - and the birds that might be feasting on them. Berries like these are important food sources for birds such as redwing, fieldfare, blackbird and thrushes, especially when the ground is frozen. Ivy berries are also starting to appear and along with holly will be important in later winter when there’s not much else around.
Berries for the birds - hawthorn berries and rosehips have been brightening up the hedgerows for some time now, while ivy berries are only just starting to come into season. Photo S. Doyle
Some exciting news this week is that the path to the beach is nearly finished! All the staff and volunteers who have been working hard will be glad to hear that the last board has been put in place and the gravel spreading completed for the whole 500m. All that is left now is to compact the gravel and maybe some other last finishing touches! We’re looking forward for the path to soon be open and allowing better accessibility to the beach.
Staff and volunteer spreading gravel along the footpath to the beach.
Some of the sightings at Mersehead this week included:
To learn more about these and other birds, check out the RSPB wildlife guide: Birds A- Z | Bird Guides - The RSPB
Sorcha Doyle, Residential volunteer
Upcoming Events:
*Holiday Cottages - Discover the breath-taking scenery, wildlife, cultural and history of Dumfries & Galloway whilst staying in one of the Mersehead cosy semi-detached holiday cottages – Barnacle and Shelduck – located in the heart of reserve.
*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.