Mersehead Recent Sightings 20th - 26th January
This week our visitors, volunteers and staff have been practicing and improving their bird identification skills at the visitor centre’s feeders in preparation for this weekend’s event. The finding included 70 birds from 12 different species consisting of 22 greenfinches, 4 goldfinches, 13 chaffinches, 5 yellowhammers, 7 house sparrows, 6 tree sparrows, 3 great tit, 2 blue tit, 1 coal tit, 2 blackbirds, 2 robins and 1 dunnock. If you need some help identifying the birds in your garden pop to our visitor centre and we can guide you!
Golden Plover. Photo credit: Paul Chesterfield
Our wetland bird survey was carried out at the beginning of the week. The result highlights included 5917 barnacle geese, 1805 oystercatchers, 1631 dunlins, 7 tufted ducks and 921 golden plovers. So far in this season, this is the highest number of golden plover recorded on the reserve, of which 620 birds were sighted on our new land. Some tips to identify a golden plover are that, size-wise, it is a bit smaller than a lapwing, and it can be differentiated at flight from the grey plover for its white armpits during winter.
At the end of the week, the winter passerines survey was done, with the following highlight of 63 greenfinch. Others sightings this week have been 3 deer walking on the coast, 2 little egret’s spotted throughout the week around the wetlands, 2 ravens flying near the visitor centre, a pochard in front of the Bruaich hide, a merlin near the Beck burn banks, a bullfinch in the wetland hedges and 20 snipe in the new land.
Snowdrops. Photo credit: Adaica Rodriguez
Weather conditions haven been very wet and cold this week, with several glimpses of sunshine especially on Wednesday, but a powerful hail covered the reserve on Thursday morning. However, in the visitor centre garden our snowdrops are starting to flourish as a reminder that spring is on its way with brighter and warmer days.
Adaica Rodriguez, Residential volunteer