This week marks my final contribution to the Mersehead blog as I am unfortunately come to the end of my time here. This has been my penultimate week at the reserve, and though I will be sad to leave next week I have enjoyed my time on the Solway Coast and wouldn’t change a thing about it. Anyway back to focusing on this week. It has been a very different week here at Mersehead; we have had a trip away, a big volunteer get together and continued our work on our new path. As regular visitors to Mersehead will know the woodland path which leads to the beach is currently closed so that it can be renovated. Due to the hot and dry weather last week everything at Mersehead has looked rather autumnal this week as summer is beginning to come to an end.
A Woodpecker watching over mersehead, Photo Credit, C. Farrell
Hungry Goldfinch fledgling, Photo Credit, C. Farrell
This week we have made brilliant progress with putting in the boards which will mark the edge of the new path, we have so far put in roughly 119m of boards and seem to be working like a well-oiled machine. Though we still have a long way to go.
The new woodland path coming along nicely, Photo Credit, S. Boothman
On Wednesday this week several members of the RSPB Dumfries and Galloway team visited William Wood Farm to take part in a bio-blitz. William Wood is a part of the nature friendly farming network (nffn), which is a collection of farms and farmers who champion a more conservation friendly way of farming. It was excellent getting to tour round this amazing farm consisting of meadows which weren’t over grazed, a recently planted orchid surrounded by wild flowers, a pond teeming with dragon flies and woodland creating a corridor for nature all the way around the farm. It was so inspiring to see an actual working farm which had such dedication to preserving nature, and in my opinion it put many actual nature reserves I’ve visited to shame. As someone who loves farm animals it was also nice to see healthy looking livestock in a more natural environment, my personal favorites were the highland cattle and a very friendly pig who enjoyed scratches.
The very friendly pig looking for scratches, Photo Credit, S. Boothman
Impressive Highland Cows, Photo Credit, S. Boothman
After having our tour of the farm, all the RSPB staff split up into groups and headed of to different areas of the farm to carry out little surveys to give an idea of the diversity on the farm. My fellow residential volunteer Claire and I headed off to the orchid where we searched for butterflies, bees and other insects. In just one small area we found a wide variety of species including, Common and Brown Banded Carder Bumble Bees, Garden Bumble Bees, White and Buff Tail Bumble Bees, Meadow Grass Hoppers, Small White Butterflies and so many other invertebrate species. Else where on the farm other RSPB staff members also found a few late nesting pairs of Tree Sparrows. It was a really great day and I found it so inspiring.
Common Carder Bee, Photo Credit, C. Farrell
Buff/White Tail Bumble Bee, Photo Credit, C. Farrell
The RSPB hard at work, Photo Credit P. Radford
This week we also had the Mersehead volunteer BBQ , this was an opportunity to thank the volunteers from our regular Tuesday work party and the volunteers from the visitor centre for all their hard work. We all gathered in the Sulwath Garden enjoying the food and taking a break from the usual hustle and bustle of working at Mersehead. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon.
The BBQ in full swing, Photo credit, P. Radford
Sam Boothman Trainee warden
With the Mersehead holiday cottages fully booked for summer don’t miss out on the opportunity to stay at Mersehead during the winter months of November and December when the reserve is home to thousands of Barnacle geese and internationally important numbers wintering wildfowl. Check out availability for Shelduck and Barnacle through the hyperlinks.