Mersehead Recent Sightings 13th – 19th January
While inland areas of South West Scotland have disappeared under a heavy blanket of snow and the M74 ground to a halt on two consecutive evenings, Mersehead has been enjoying the warming effects of a coastal location and only saw a light scattering of snow on Thursday morning.
Photo credit: R.Flavelle
Although snowless, the wind has been sharp and the ever popular driftwood bird table has been hectic with small birds queuing up in the hedgerows awaiting their turn. As well as the more common garden birds such as Chaffinch, Greenfinch and Blue Tit, there has been fabulous close up views of Tree Sparrow and Yellowhammer. The Tree Sparrow is a red-listed species of conservation concern with the British population having suffered a severe decline between 1970 and 2008 estimated at 93%. Red is the highest conservation priority with species needing urgent action. However, recent Breeding Bird Survey data is encouraging, suggesting that numbers of tree sparrow may have started to increase.
The constant background soundtrack to the work this week has been the evocative call of Pink-footed Geese. Arriving from their breeding grounds in Iceland and Greenland in September they gradually move further south to areas such as Lancashire, Lincolnshire and Norfolk. The geese flying over the reserve this week are now on their northward migration back to Iceland. In 2016, through their extensive Goose and Swan Monitoring Program, the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust estimated the current wintering population of pink-footed geese stood at 480,000.
The high water table in the dry grassland field to the right of the main track leading to the woodland has resulted in great close up views of Curlew, Lapwing, Oystercatcher and Redshank all busily probing the mud for invertebrates. Skylark and Meadow Pipit have been feeding in dense groups whilst 2 Mistle Thrush have been spotted in the hedgerow. Every day this week, 2 Little Egret have been seen in the wetland field directly in front of the Visitor Centre. A large flock of 60+ Linnet have been feeding in the wild bird cover next to the footpath to Bruiach Hide.
Photo credit: Ben Andrews
This afternoon the WeBS count at Kirkconnell was completed. A fairly quiet count this month with Redshank being the most numerous wader at 208, followed by 61 Curlew and 31 Dunlin. Mallard was the most recorded wildfowl species this month with 176 counted in total. A group of 17 Goldeneye made a great addition though. Even the gulls were staying out of the way today with only 61 Black-headed Gull, 18 Common Gull and 2 Great Black-backed Gull recorded.
Rowena Favelle, Warden