Recent Sightings Week 10th - 16th March 2018
After a wet start to the week on Saturday, we took a reading of 11mm of rainfall on Sunday morning. Although the day had been miserable for some, the damp conditions were perfect for frogs, and subsequently on Sunday we found masses of frog spawn in pools around the reserve, even in shallow puddles along our Rainbow Lane which we carefully moved to deeper water.
Frog Spawn Photo Credit: Lana Blakely
Sunday was a fine day with lots of activity on the garden feeders, amongst the usual suspects of chaffinch, tree sparrows, house sparrows, goldfinch, greenfinch and yellowhammers we had a visit from a pair of siskin. Siskin are an infrequent visitor here due to the lack of suitable habitat, they are usually seen where there is more coniferous or mixed woodland close by.
Siskin Photo Credit: Chris Gomersall
A peregrine falcon was seen hunting amongst a flock of over 800 knot along the beach on Sunday afternoon.
On Tuesday visitors reported seeing several red kites soaring over farmland whilst looking out from the Bruiach hide, it is encouraging to know the Galloway kites are continuing to spread across the county.
Red Kite Photo Credit: Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)
On Wednesday we treated to a fly past of eight whooper swans, heading over the visitor centre towards our wetlands. Later in the afternoon we spotted our first bumblebee of the year. A tree bumble bee. A relatively new species coming from Siberian forests and spreading across Europe with the first being found in Wiltshire, England in 2001. They have steadily spread north and reached southern Scotland in 2013. The tree bumblebee can be identified by its white rump, and a distinctive reddish-brown thorax. Tree bumblebees awaken from hibernation mid to late march through to early April. Our native bumblebees predominately nest in the ground, however as the name suggests these bees nest above ground. In their native habitat they would choose to nest in a hole in a tree but here in the UK they have adapted and are very much at home in urban surroundings. Typical nest sites are in bird boxes, soffits on houses or holes in walls. As we saw, the queen will often be seen at this time of year flying close to buildings searching for somewhere cosy to set up home. Their life cycle is fairly short with nests dying usually by the end of July, however this is the main reason why they have spread so rapidly, as the surviving queens have the rest of the summer to expand their area, where as native bumblebee nests continue until late September / early October.
Today, Friday, we awoke to strong easterly winds and a subsequent drop in temperature. However, the bird & wildlife around the reserve continue with ‘business as usual’. As a finale for the week, a sparrowhawk made a visit to the visitor centre garden, boldly perching on the feeding table, showing off all his splendor.
Jon Foot (Residential Volunteer)