Mersehead Recent Sightings 22nd - 28th July
Another lovely warm week, even though we experienced some wind & heavy rainfall mid-week. Making the most of the sunshine we completed our weekly butterfly transect on Monday, where we saw red admiral, peacock, meadow brown, ringlet and an abundance, in fact 272, green veined whites. With most species of butterfly, females will only mate when they first emerge; hence we always tend to see male butterflies emerge a few days ahead of the females. After mating, females will do their best to avoid the attentions of males, in order to get on with important egg laying duties. However female green veined whites will mate with several males over the course of her life, increasing the number of eggs she can lay. Whilst mating the male green veined white will also transfer a gift of nutrients that female will absorb to help increase egg production. Amazingly a green veined white male can transfer 15 – 25% of its own body mass to females during mating.
Green vein white gathering. Photo Credit: Lana Blakely.
On the reserve we are never far away from the sound of a busy buzzing bee. One of the most common species we see is the buff tail bumble bee. This species is identifiable by its white tail and a thin buff coloured line, which separates the white tail from its black body. (the female/queen is large and has an off white coloured tail, which can sometimes appear orange). A yellow band around the collar & abdomen appears on the male, worker & female, and unlike many other species the males facial hair is black opposed to yellow.
Buff tail bumblebee. Photo Credit: Blanca Fernandez-Tome.
A green wood pecker was seen in our Sulwath garden on Tuesday, a scarce resident of Dumfries & Galloway. Although recent records show numbers are increasing, they are seldom seen, therefore we were delighted to see one here at Mersehead. Unlike other woodpeckers, the green woodpecker can be encountered on the ground, whilst it searches for insects, ants and larvae. It will visit gardens with large grassy areas, especially if there are old trees nearby. Our Sulwath garden is the perfect habitat for a feeding green woodpecker, therefore fingers crossed this was not just a passing visit.
Green Woodpecker. Photo Credit: Andy Hay.
Other sightings this week include golden ringed & common hawker dragon fly down by the Bruiach hide. Eleven grey heron were seen resting together on the edge of the reed bed, looking out from the Meida hide; although these were all reported to be adult birds, we have also seen juveniles which differ from the adults by having a grey crown and a higher density of speckles on their chest. A greater spotted woodpecker visited one of our holiday cottage gardens, and we had a treat as we looked out across the freshly cut field in front of our mesmerising visitor centre window, where a dozen or so swift could be seen darting back & forth.
Jon Foot, Residential Volunteer