I can hardly believe that it has only been 3 weeks since I packed my bags and my dog, loaded up my Micra and left my Yorkshire roots for a new life in Dumfries and Galloway at the fabulous RSPB Mersehead reserve on the Solway Firth. It already feels so much like home and I have already had so many wonderful experiences with nature that it feels like I’ve been up here for much longer.
Firstly allow me to introduce myself, my name is Becky Jones and I am the new Visitor and Community Liaison Officer at RSPB Mersehead near Southwick. I started my RSPB life 2 years ago, spending a summer working on the Lake District Osprey Project at Bassenthwaite. I then returned to my native North Yorkshire where I have spent the last 2 years working as Membership Development Officer for RSPB covering South, East and North Yorkshire.
I have had a busy three weeks settling into my new role and my new life, but what an experience it’s been so far, my welcome barbeque hosted by my colleagues Ben and Allie and our residential volunteers. An opportunity to sit in the evening sun watching as the swallows and house martins were replaced with bats as the sun went down. The badger watching where after waiting with baited breath we saw 4 badgers emerge from their set and even heard them munching on the peanuts we’d put out for them, or my first sighting of a Hen Harrier as it floated over the fields battling against the coastal breezes. This place really is amazing with so many habitats all attracting different species, and as for the beach, I don’t know who was more excited as we climbed over the sand dunes, me or my dog Max, it was a closely run contest!
As summer draws to a close, and the summer migrants like the Swallows, House Martins and various Warblers gather to being their long journeys back to Africa, we are all waiting with anticipation for the return of our Barnacle Geese from Svalbard. Every year over 10,000 geese make Mersehead their winter home, feeding on the fields that have been specifically farmed to provide enough nutritional food to build the birds strength back up after their long journey from the Artic. They roost on the mudflats and every evening can be seen heading out into the Solway to spend the night out of reach of potential predators. I for one can’t wait to experience this, one of natures true wonders. Anyone wanting to experience it firsthand can come and visit the reserve any time from the end of September, right through until April when the birds will be leaving us once again to head back to the Artic.
We have two great events happening this month, our. first being on Saturday 18th September when Mersehead will be hosting one of the Marine Conservation Society’s Beach Watch events. We are asking for volunteers to come along between 11-1 to help us clean a stretch of our fantastic beach and do some surveying. This gives us a great opportunity to find out exactly what is being washed up on our beaches. Following that we welcome staff from Lochwinnoch reserve who along with members of the Galloway Local RSPB Group will be holding an Optics Weekend at Mersehead on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th September. If you are tempted to bin your bins and splash out on a new pair then don’t miss the opportunity to come along and speak to the experts! We will also be holding some art and craft activities for children that weekend and will be asking visitors to help us judge our Beach Art competition
Mersehead reserve is open dawn until dusk, the Visitor Centre opens 10-5pm daily, where you can choose from our range of Fairtrade goodies and on a clear day enjoy views across to the Isle of Man. I look forward to welcoming you to our fantastic reserve. So come along and create your own Mersehead moment!