Mersehead Recent Sightings 29th April - 5th May
We have experienced another glorious week of sunshine here at Mersehead, although a strong breeze has kept everything on their toes (or wings). Our co-ordinated barnacle goose count on Wednesday morning, across Mersehead & West Preston drew a blank, therefore we concluded that all our winter migrants had taken their chance and begun their 2000 mile journey back to their breeding grounds. We have had reports of the first Barnacles arriving back in Svalbard. Incredibly, some of the ultra fit males, will make the journey in one single flight. However, on Thursday we noticed two are still with us, enjoying the sunshine. Along with the usual suspects visiting our visitor centre garden feeders in the last week, we had a single redpoll join the goldfinches, and grey partridge join our resident pheasants for an afternoon. Several sightings of treecreeper have been noted on our woodland routes, both to Meida Hide and the beach. Last Sunday a marsh harrier was spotted swooping over the reedbed, and on Tuesday a red kite had made its way over to view the merse. A number of whitethroats have been seen and heard around the reserve, along with the wonderful sound of the grasshopper warbler.
A current favourite of ours, which is showing up in many places around the reserve is the orange-tip butterfly, a true sign of spring. This is one of the first species of butterfly to emerge which has not over wintered as an adult. It is hard to mistake the male, a white butterfly with bright orange wing tips; however the female can be harder to identify, often mistaken for a green veined white or a small white. She is white with black wing tips. Both male & female have an unmistakable green & white mottled effect under wing. Orange-tips prefer damp habitats, meadows, woodland, riverbanks and marshland; however it is not uncommon to see them in your garden. A favourite food of the Orange-tip caterpillar is the Cuckooflower, which is currently in abundance across the merse. It also likes Garlic Mustard which can be found along road verges & ditches. It is said that the orange wing tips serve to alert potential predators to the distasteful nature of this species, something that results from the mustard oils accumulated in the body during the caterpillar stage.
Orange-tip butterfly. Photo credit: Tom Marshall
Also this week we noticed red mason bee’s entering our Car Park Honesty Box, and it looks like they have decided to take up residence. This species is a type of solitary bee, meaning they do not live in colonies, produce honey or have a queen. Solitary bees are fantastic pollinators, they do not have pollen baskets for carrying pollen, meaning each time they visit a flower they lose far more pollen than social bees, making them far better pollinators. A single red mason bee can be as effective as 120 worker honey bees in the pollination it provides. They are active for around 10 – 12 weeks of the year (unlike Bumble or Honey bees which are active for 8-9 months). Instead of creating wax to form their nesting structures, they collect mud as building material, hence the term ‘mason’ bees. They can often nest in soft mortar, but do not bore their own cavities. This species of bee uses pre-existing cavities, such has hollow plant stems or boring holes made by other creatures in dead wood. However in our case they have gone up market, and decided to nest safely behind lock & key in our honesty box, which is hollowed into an old tree stump. The red mason bee is not aggressive at all. The male does not have a sting, and the female will only sting in extreme circumstances, and even if she does, her sting is nothing compared to that of a wasp or honey bee. They are a fantastic bee to attract to your garden, as along with being great pollinators, safe around children & pets, they are fascinating to watch.
Red Mason Bee. Photo credit: Jon Foot
Jon Foot, Long Term Resident Volunteer