Peter Howard a mature male has just completed his third, two week stint as a residential volunteer at Mersehead. His home is in East Anglia and finds the change of geographical location and the time spent at Mersehead interesting and stimulating.
Mersehead Recent Sightings 6th August – 12th August
Part of the pleasure of bird watching is the time that you spend with like minded quality people.
This is particularly true of Mersehead!
The people that I have met here again have enhanced my stay (and my knowledge of birds) and have been varied and interesting
They have ranged from the ever helpful full time site staff who continue to treat me with consideration and respect, the numerous visitors who I have had the pleasure of meeting on their visit here (especially the children who I try to involve with nature) to the local bird ringers who carry out fortnightly surveys to try to increase our understanding of bird behavior
My duties at Mersehead have been varied but I have spent extended time within the Visitor Centre. Here one is afforded time to try to enhance people’s visit to the site be it that the variety of birds around the site in early August is very limited.
However the bird feeders in front of the main viewing area of the Visitor Centre are a source of constant activity, with less mobile people often spending several hours there!
It is good to see such “common” birds at close proximity and they continue to thrill the visitors. This year there have been families of Greenfinches, Yellow Hammers, House Sparrows and Chaffinches with the interaction between the juvenile and the adults of continual interest.
Photo credit: J. McDougall
Good views were also available of a pair of adult Siskins, a bird I (and many other visitors from the south of England) have never been able to watch at such close proximity
The morning (5 am to 10 am) spent with the bird ringers are probably the highlight of the stay. Good views of a Kingfisher were available from the Media Hide before we started and there was also a view of what was deemed, be it at some distance, by the assembled ringers to be a family of Whinchats.
The ringers had a particular successful morning catching and ringing 99 birds (one recapture), mainly Willow and Sedge Warblers but also a single Tree Pipit and a Spotted Flycatcher. They thought this number was a record for a mornings work!
It was inspiring to see such a dedicated team of people giving up their time to try to increase our knowledge of bird behavior and ultimately for the bird species well being and conservation
As the accommodation is on the Reserve itself one is afforded the luxury of being there 24/7.Other moments that will stand in my mind was the massing of Swallow/House Martins-probably 200 to 300 on two occasions ,and of a couple of Wheatears all stopping off before their onward journey to sub Sahara Africa and warmer climes!
I am also travelling home to East Anglia tomorrow also to what by looking at the weather maps on the BBC weather forecast are warmer climes as my two weeks here have been particularly blustery and excessively cool and wet on occasions!
However, I hope that I have contributed to the objectives of the RSPB during my stay here, in a particular to the Mersehead Reserve as I myself have benefited as a person from my time here!
Peter Howard, Residential Volunteer