It certainly feels like spring today, it is warm, sunny, the lapwings are displaying, the daffodils are in flower and lesser celandine is peeking out from under the hedges. Lesser celandine is one of the earliest wild flowers to appear and is the floral equivalent of the swallow; both reappear around the same time and herald the coming of spring. In fact the word ‘celandine’ comes from the Greek chelidon meaning 'swallow' and the plant traditionally first blooms on the 21st February. It was a favourite plant of William Wordsworth who wrote 3 poems about it. The yellow theme continues around Mersehead in the form of gorse whose distinctive coconut smell is said to be quite pungent to some individuals but weak to others whilst folklore states that you should only kiss your beloved when gorse is in flower. The good news is that either common gorse or the closely related western gorse is pretty much in bloom whatever the time of year! In fact, a few yellow flowers can generally be seen even in harsh winter months.
Photo credit: Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Another sign of spring is the decline in the numbers of winter wildfowl out on the wetlands. This week’s count recorded 134 teal, 138 wigeon, 18 mallard, 15 gadwall, 46 pintail, 34 shoveler, 7 tufted duck, 18 shelduck and 2 goldeneye. Little grebe has been spotted out from the hides along with water rail. A wisp of 7 snipe were spotted flying out of the wetlands and over the Visitor Centre. The sound of lapwings displaying fills the skies and with 60 birds recorded fingers are crossed for a good breeding season. Barnacle goose numbers remain fairly low with just 2865 recorded on the reserve this week; the leucistic barnacle however was spotted by the residents of Shelduck Holiday Cottage as they sat in bed enjoying a cup of tea! Small numbers of pink-footed and canada geese have been present this week whilst down in the woodland a pair of bullfinch were spotted along with a great spotted woodpecker. A Chiffchaff, who is either an early arrival or has possibly been hiding in the woodland all winter, was spotted out and about too. A great surprise Monday morning was the sight of 27 whooper swans roosting on the sandflats with their haunting calls coming through the early morning mist. Little egret has been see again on the beach whilst the high tide wader roost provided 780 oystercatcher and 140 curlew. The sighting of the week goes to Tim, our residential volunteer, who spotted merlin whilst completing the monthly wetland bird survey. The latest addition to the sound of spring is the cooing of woodpigeons around the office and the distant call of tawny owl coming from the cliffs in the evening.
Photo credit: John Bridges (rspb-images.com)
Wild Weekends
Turn into a nature detective and explore the wildlife that makes Mersehead its home. Get your hands on some weird and wonderful creatures by collecting minibeasts, spotting birds and have the opportunity to check out what moths have been seen fluttering around. Saturday 11am-1pm & 2pm-4pm