Big Garden Birdwatch!

RSPB Mersehead Blog 21^st – 27^th January 2023

This weekend is the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch and Mersehead is one of the reserves being live streamed over the weekend. You can check out the action at the visitor centre bird feeders live from 9am on Saturday here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQY4ZFLiGnw, or have a look at some footage from earlier in the week here https://www.facebook.com/TheRSPB/live_videos/?ref=page_internal. Getting involved in the Big Garden Birdwatch is easy. Just spend an hour counting the birds you see in your garden or park, submit your results online and you can help contribute to monitoring birdlife. Find out more and sign up here https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/. 

 Coal Tit and Greenfinch caught on the live feed at the visitor centre birdfeeders as part of Big Garden Birdwatch.

On Monday we carried out a wetland bird survey, recording 26 different species around the reserve, with some highlights including Tufted Duck, Sanderling, Jacksnipe, Ringed Plover and Grey Plover.  A full summary of the survey is in the table below. 5 Whooper Swans have also been seen at the wetlands by the Bruaich hide, and a Water Rail was spotted darting between the ditches by the path down to the woodland. Yellowhammer, Bullfinch, Stonechat, Red Kite and Hen Harrier were just some of the other sightings on the reserve this week.  

As part of a Solway-wide coordinated goose count on Wednesday, just over 5,000 Barnacle Geese were counted on reserve, with a total count of just under 30,000 across the Solway.

 Mersehead wetland bird survey results - 23 Jan 2023

To learn more about these and other birds, check out the RSPB wildlife guide: Birds A- Z | Bird Guides - The RSPB

Whooper Swans taking off from the wetlands in front of Bruaich hide. Photo credit S. Doyle

The Tuesday volunteer work party was busy doing some willow scrub removal near the natterjack toad pools. As well as helping to maintain access to the breeding ponds from the dunes for the toads, by thinning out the denser stands of willow and creating a varied structure with a mosaic of different heights and clearings that let some sunlight in, it helps support increased plant and invertebrate diversity. 

Volunteers doing some willow scrub management work

Evidence of underwater life is often washed up on the beach at Mershead, such as cuttlefish bones, sea potatoes and ‘mermaid’s purses’. This week a regular visitor to the reserve kindly shared her finds of shark eggcases on the beach at Mershead, with 199 Thornback Ray cases, 30 Smallspotted catshark cases, 2 Spotted Ray cases and 1 Blackmouth catshark cases found.

Though a little confusing, these rays are in fact skates, as true rays give birth to live young while skates lay eggs! Skates and rays are closely related to sharks, and skates and some shark species lay eggs that are enclosed in a tough leathery eggcase. The eggcases have features such as tendrils, horns and mucus filaments that attach the eggcase to a surface such as the seabed or seaweed and they provide the developing embryo with all the nutrients it needs till it hatches as a miniature version of the adult. Empty eggcases (commonly known as ‘mermaid’s purses’) are often seen washed up on beaches and their size, shape and features allows the species to be identified.

A walk along the beach is always interesting, especially if you keep your eyes open!

Eggcases collected from the beach at Mersehead. Photo credit: F. Moir

Big Garden Birdwatch is fun, free and for everyone. And you don’t need a garden to take part! Counting birds from your balcony, or your local park will play a vital role in helping us understand how UK birds are doing. Sign up for your free guide and let's look out for birds together on 27-29 January.

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