Mersehead Recent Sightings 19th - 25th August
Most of the week has been cloudy but the spectacularly warm and dry weather has embraced us. Everyone has welcomed this heat with joy, swallows couldn’t stop chattering about it, more than 250 were recorded in the Telegraphs Lines around the visitor centre and the Bruaich hide. Their loud chats attracted other flocks of starlings and finches, making these lines a truly enchanting hotspot in the reserve, along with house sparrows, buntings and skylarks jumping across the hedges.
Flock of Starlings. Photo credit: A. Rodriguez
The beginning of the week brought our visitors first class live entertainment as they watched with delight an Osprey eating a fish in on the target out on the sandflats. Additionally, we continue the week carrying out our regular butterfly and bumblebee transects. For the former, the same diversity of butterflies such as peacock, wall, red admiral, small cooper are all still present but their abundance has decreased; however over 40% of butterflies were recorded on the beach, the highest amount this year. The bumblebee transect was dominated by the Buff-tailed and Red-tailed bumblebee species having a feast mostly in the Ragwort and Sow Thistle.
Buff-tailed Bumblebee in the Rainbow lane. Photo credit: A. Rodriguez
An unmistakable treat in our trails was the presence of hundreds of dragonflies. The most abundant was the Common Darter as they prefer to breed in still waters like lochs and ponds, which our wetlands and water runs make the perfect habitat for them. Another species that caught our eyes by their significant size was the Golden-ringed dragonfly, their peculiar black and yellow stripes made them the only one of its kind in the UK and the longest British dragonfly. An Interesting fact about the life cycle of this dragonfly species, is that females lay their eggs hovering in a vertical position, while realising each egg in a constant down and up movement into the soft peat or mud. After, the larva stage can last 2-5 years and they will live for approximately 3 weeks, longer if warm conditions allow it.
Common Darter Dragonfly. Photo credit: A. Rodriguez
Golden-ringed Dragonfly in the top of the sand dunes. Photo credit: A. Rodriguez
Flock of Mute Swans flying through the fields. Photo credit: A. Rodriguez
Other sightings included a Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker in the hedges of the wood trail near the beach, 22 Snipe flying over the holiday cottages, 19 Canada Geese flying over the visitor centre, 8 Mute Swans flying south through our fields and over 200 Curlews in the beach moved by the high tide on Tuesday late afternoon. It brings our hearts full of hope to record many Curlews in our reserve, as this species has been declining in recent years, due to loss of breeding habitat to forestry and the switch to improved grasslands from hay meadows resulting in multiple cutting of grass for silage, our reserve is constantly improving our habitats to provide a home to the Curlews and increased their numbers.
Adaica Rodriguez, Residential Volunteer